Slacking off in the Game of Survival

Chapter 55 Above the Wasteland(15)

Breaths intertwined, heart beating like drums.

The warmth of the other person’s body temperature passed from fingertip to fingertip. Despite carrying a hint of coldness, he felt it to be scorching hot.

Having lived for over twenty years, this was the second time Qi Feng had been so close to the opposite sex.

The first time was during childhood, not a good memory, better left unmentioned.

But this time, both parties were adults.

Although he hadn’t considered love before, he roughly understood that physical contact between opposite sexes was meant to be romantic.

However, at this moment, the blind date set up by his family had him cornered. With a single hand, she pinched his chin, bargaining with a crafty tone.

For a moment, Qi Feng couldn’t distinguish whether he should be angry at her flippant attitude or intrigued by the subtle shift in roles, or whether she, like him, was performing such acts, with the aim not being to take advantage of him but for a mere virtual currency?!

…

“Enough.”

Qi Feng seized her wrist, his tone displeased.

Qian Yue: “Hmm? Are you angry?”

Qian Yue didn’t really intend to do anything to him. Seeing Qi Feng genuinely seemed a bit upset, she let go in response. However, negotiations hadn’t concluded, and she didn’t want to abandon her efforts midway.

With a turn of her hand, she took the upper hand, gripping the hand that Qi Feng had grabbed her wrist with. Still holding the wrist, Qi Feng instinctively tried to break free, but he couldn’t succeed.

Qian Yue smiled and asked, “So, have you thought it over?”

Qi Feng took a deep breath. “…Let go.”

Qian Yue: “No.”

Qi Feng’s expression grew colder. “Let go, or there’s nothing to discuss.”

Qian Yue wasn’t falling for his act. She smiled knowingly and said, “Don’t try to scare me. I know you can disappear at will. If I let go and you run away, what will I do?”

“…” A faint abnormal blush appeared on Qi Feng’s face.

He had indeed been thinking that way.

He couldn’t argue with Qian Yue’s words and found himself increasingly uneasy, even though he was in the virtual world he had created.

He wondered where his mother had found such a troublesome match for him.

Seeing Qian Yue persisting, Qi Feng had to explain, “Prices and such are recorded in the backend data, subject to set regulations. Even I can’t change them arbitrarily.”

“You can’t either?” Qian Yue furrowed her brows slightly, not entirely convinced by Qi Feng’s explanation. She paused and then asked, “But don’t you have a fondness level system?”

She had read on forums before that if a player accumulated enough fondness with a character, they could receive some benefits when interacting with that character.

The most common benefit was a price reduction.

However, Qian Yue stopped herself mid-sentence. She let go and stepped back, murmuring, “Never mind, I guess you don’t have any fondness for me.”

Qi Feng: “…” Quite self-aware, it seemed.

However, for some reason, hearing her say that made Qi Feng oddly uncomfortable.

Ignoring the irritation deep down, Qi Feng straightened his clothes that Qian Yue had messed up and explained with a stern face, “The fondness system only applies to native residents, not me. If you—”

Qian Yue nodded with a matter-of-fact expression. “Yeah, indeed different. You should look better.”

Being suddenly praised made Qi Feng stumble over his words. After a moment’s pause, looking rather uncomfortable, he managed to say,
“…Thank you.”

While Qi Feng was still grappling with his awkwardness, on the other end, Qian Yue’s interest in him had significantly waned upon realizing that discounts were off the table.

She swiftly completed the transaction, selling off her miscellaneous items and buying some tools.

Her actions were swift, no dilly-dallying. She even distanced herself from Qi Feng’s demeanor, as if the person who had cornered someone against a wall and pinched their chin just moments ago wasn’t her.

Before leaving, Qian Yue waved without facing him, “Remember to explain our situation to your mom sooner, so I can sort things out with mine too.”

Qi Feng: “…”

Although he understood that Qian Yue meant for him to discuss the matter of refusal, why did her words sound so easily misunderstood?

Watching her figure recede, Qi Feng felt that this situation was becoming increasingly unclear.

*

After the conclusion of the fourth instance.

The technical team of the “Ten-Day Plan” project gathered for their customary post-instance meeting.

As usual, they would collect and analyze the videos recorded by various staff members during the internal testing phase. Indeed, Qi Feng wasn’t the only staff member participating in the game’s internal testing.

Most of them would pose as indigenous inhabitants of the instance or temporary players—players wouldn’t know how many people were in a instance and wouldn’t be able to discern the staff members from regular players.

However, Qi Feng’s role was somewhat special, as he was the only cross-instance NPC in the entire game. Thus, his recorded videos were usually the focal point of these meetings.

At this moment, Qi Feng sat at the head of the conference room, expressionless, watching his own video recordings along with the others.

The screen was divided into two parts—one was a first-person perspective, and the other was a third-person perspective. Combining these two perspectives made it a bit overwhelming, especially since the playback was at a faster speed, causing the visuals to be even more dizzying. However, the technical department staff had clearly grown accustomed to it, all maintaining a calm demeanor.

The meeting room was quiet. Once the video started, the staff members ceased their conversations and watched the large screen in silence, occasionally jotting down notes in their notebooks.

When Qian Yue appeared on screen, someone’s pen paused briefly.

Players might not know, but this group of staff members was exceptionally familiar with Qian Yue’s face. It was her who accidentally tore the boss’s cloak, causing a forum explosion, and they had to work overtime as a result.

As it turned out, when a group of overworked employees were forced to work overtime, there was no face that they wouldn’t easily remember as the instigator of their misery.

Later, there was the incident with the hair-pulling and hat-tapping. Though it didn’t create another online sensation, it did cause quite a commotion among the attending personnel.

So, when they saw Qian Yue’s face appear, everyone subconsciously glanced at the end of the long table.

Qi Feng, suddenly feeling like he was under surveillance: “…”

The handsome man sat expressionlessly, leaning back in his chair, exuding an icy aura that would keep people at a distance. His calm expression suggested he didn’t even know this person.

However…

The others exchanged a covert glance.

Something seemed suspicious, no matter how you looked at it!

The video on the screen continued, and by now, Qian Yue had approached Qi Feng and requested a trade from him.

But just then, the third-person view suddenly froze on a wall, as if the two had entered a blind spot in the camera’s view.

Simultaneously, the recorded sound seemed to be affected, adding a lot of electrical noise.

Someone asked, “What’s going on?”

“Could the camera function be malfunctioning again?”

“The sound recording has issues too, sounds like electromagnetic interference.”

“That shouldn’t be the case. It was fine during the last inspection a couple of days ago.”

Quickly, everyone opened their optical computers and connected to the backend data. Similar incidents had happened before, so they didn’t doubt it.

However, a few seconds later, the first-person view suddenly went black.

No, not black.

It seemed as though something covered Qi Feng’s eyes from above—since the first-person perspective was from his eyes, the camera was positioned near his eyes. However, now that something had covered his vision, the field of view had significantly narrowed, resembling the situation when Qi Feng wore a hat in a similar way.

Wait, a hat?

The artists and modeling team were the first to come to realization.

They distinctly remembered that all of Qi Feng’s outfits in the game were designed and created by them. Therefore, they knew well that the combat uniform he was wearing during this instance had a hood attached.

In the current situation, did Qi Feng put on the hood himself?

But he was well aware that the hood was purely decorative and would obstruct the camera. So, why would he put it on?

The electrical noise became even more pronounced, but a trace of sound could still be captured. One female voice was particularly clear.
“Don’t want anyone to know…”

“…happened.”

“Mm~”

The screen slightly jittered, followed by a sudden whimper that startled everyone.

The mosaic of electrical noise gave a pure exclamation an unintended connotation. The whole office suddenly perked up, silently listening.

—What’s going on?!

—Miscalculated.

Qi Feng nearly instantly realized that the audio distortion in this section hadn’t been handled well. The sound hadn’t been completely masked, and the attempt to obscure only served to make the situation even stranger.

Clicking his tongue internally, he felt a bit uneasy. Outwardly, he furrowed his brows, maintaining a serious expression as he quickly raised his hand to call for a pause. “What’s happening? Pause for a moment—”

But it was already too late.

The first-person view screen seemed to shake once again, followed by a female voice emanating from the speakers. The distorted effect combined with the crackling of electrical noise created a siren-like whisper, momentarily making the listeners detect a hint of hoarse and alluring feeling.

“Behave better…”

Everyone: !!!

So sensational?!

Yet, the onlookers didn’t get to hear more. Soon, the last bit of light vanished, and the first-person perspective screen went completely black.

Someone quickly attempted adjustments, discovering that this blackout had lasted around ten minutes. When the picture finally returned to normal, Qi Feng had appeared in another location.

“This…”

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

Both camera feeds malfunctioned simultaneously, even the sound collection was disrupted. They had encountered similar situations before, but it had been a very long time. Given their present circumstances, it shouldn’t have crashed like this. So what could it be…

“…”

Outwardly, the conference room was silent.

In reality, private chats without the boss were buzzing madly.

However, Qi Feng seemed entirely unaffected, speaking seriously, “I suspect a programming error. I’ll go check it out personally.”

He was responsible for this blunder himself, so he didn’t want to burden others with extra work. Shouldn’t he be the one to investigate?

However, Qi Feng didn’t show any signs of knowing about the situation. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, looking composed as ever, and said, “Let’s skip to the next segment.”