Chapter Twenty-Five: What a Coincidence

But what the system said next truly left Xiao Zhang even more astonished.

“It’s over, it’s over. Sidekick, you play by yourself. I’ve got a mess of trouble to deal with.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah!” With that, the shop assistant backed into the store, and Xiao Zhang found himself once again at the moment he’d just lit his cigarette.

He took a drag and recalled the words the system had spoken to him—

“It’s one thing to act tough in the game, but don’t pretend in your real world. I can’t cover you there!”

“And don’t die in the game, either. I won’t be able to save you.”

There were a few other nonsensical remarks—something about underlings rebelling and system errors—that Xiao Zhang couldn’t quite make sense of.

Well, this system really was a hands-off manager, always running off somewhere.

But thankfully, the system had reactivated Xiao Zhang’s module and even granted him some enhancement points.

Though there was no exchange system, it had created a shop for him, which was more or less a substitute.

And the system said he could complete tasks if he wanted, or ignore them if he didn’t; it sounded rather appealing.

Just as Xiao Zhang was pondering his next move, time froze again. From the sky came the system’s voice: “Don’t you dare die! I’ve got a lot riding on you!”

“Can’t you just modify the program and revive me if I die?” he retorted.

“Absolutely not!” The system’s tone was stern. “Don’t forget, you’re no longer part of this world’s data. If you die, this world won’t protect you!”

“Oh, and if you want to learn skills, you can check out some anime—the characters’ abilities are yours to learn. But your system needs to restart to activate.”

Then time resumed. Suddenly, Xiao Zhang remembered something, panicking—had he entered the wrong house?

...

“Yeah!” Xiao Zhang was dragging his freshly packed suitcase, ready to leave. “Would you believe me if I said I walked into the wrong house?”

A beep sounded in his mind, indicating the system was rebooting, and Xiao Zhang collapsed, unconscious.

---

Xiao Zhang awoke, sat up abruptly, and glanced around. He was clearly in a bedroom, lying on a bed, with Zhao Bai standing at the bedside, staring at him.

“What the hell are you doing!” Xiao Zhang jumped up, only to quickly sit back down.

Just then, another person in the room slowly approached with a pillow. Zhao Bai took the pillow, smiling bitterly. “Miss Li, do we really need to be this cautious among ourselves?”

Xiao Zhang rubbed his aching head and saw the two before him clearly. “Zhao Bai? What are you doing here?”

Zhao Bai grimaced. “You really don’t know you walked into the wrong place? If I hadn’t rushed over, my girlfriend would’ve called the police on you.”

“And her?” Xiao Zhang gestured toward Li Shiwan.

Zhao Bai put his arm around Li Shiwan as he spoke, “She’s my girlfriend.”

Xiao Zhang hurriedly got out of bed, glanced at Zhao Bai, and shouted, “Hello, sister-in-law! I didn’t bring anything for you this time!”

Zhao Bai paused, looked at the bewildered Li Shiwan, then at Xiao Zhang. “Alright, alright, don’t scare her.”

Leaning close to Xiao Zhang’s ear, Zhao Bai whispered, “So, what do you think? Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Beautiful, very beautiful,” Xiao Zhang replied with a wry smile and a sigh, whispering back, “You’re really feeding me dog food the moment I get home?”

Li Shiwan, seeing Xiao Zhang was fine, relaxed. She’d thought he’d been frightened sick.

“So, how long has it been since you slept? You just collapsed and passed out,” Zhao Bai said, lightly punching Xiao Zhang.

“It’s a long story,” Xiao Zhang replied, feeling awkward. First day home and he’d entered the wrong place—and fainted in his brother’s girlfriend’s house. What a mess.

Li Shiwan checked the time and spoke to Zhao Bai, “Stay with your friend. I’m going to pick up Momo; she’s almost here.”

“Alright!” Zhao Bai replied briskly, sensing Xiao Zhang’s embarrassment.

After Li Shiwan left, Xiao Zhang relaxed a bit, took the beer Zhao Bai handed him, and gulped it down.

“What happened?” Zhao Bai opened a can for himself.

Sitting opposite Zhao Bai, Xiao Zhang scratched his head. “How should I explain...?” He thought for a moment, but decided not to tell Zhao Bai everything; it sounded unbelievable anyway. “Let’s just say the last few days have been...”

“By the way, how did you end up in my girlfriend’s house?” Zhao Bai handed him another beer and sat beside him.

---

“How was I supposed to know the property manager gave me the wrong door key?” Xiao Zhang grumbled, frustrated. Who knew his brother’s girlfriend lived right across the hall?

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you to your sister-in-law!”

“She’s pretty, but her eyesight seems a bit off,” Xiao Zhang said, clicking his tongue.

“You bastard, I was going to have her invite her friend over for dinner,” Zhao Bai pretended to send a message on his phone. “Guess that’s not happening.”

“Don’t be like that, Da Tang. Come on, be nice.”

“Hm?”

Taking advantage of Zhao Bai’s distraction, Xiao Zhang pushed him onto the sofa. “Get down, sir!”

“You damn sneak, how dare you ambush me!” Despite Zhao Bai’s size, he couldn’t budge from under Xiao Zhang.

Just then, the door opened. Li Shiwan walked in, calling over her shoulder, “Momo, hurry up!”

The three of them glanced at each other, stunned.

Time seemed to stand still until Mo Xiaoxiao entered, arms full of bags. “Shiwan, why are you blocking the doorway?”

Xiao Zhang and Zhao Bai snapped out of it, and Xiao Zhang quickly climbed off Zhao Bai. “Sister-in-law, it’s not what you think!”

“Yes, yes, Shiwan, it’s not what you think!” Zhao Bai was mortified, fearing Shiwan would mistake them for perverts.

But Mo Kuang, seeing Xiao Zhang, grew furious. “Well, well, caught in the act! Xiao Zhang, you brat, get over here!”

She dragged Xiao Zhang into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Zhao Bai and Li Shiwan were left dumbfounded.

“Shiwan, what’s going on?”

Li Shiwan blinked, equally confused. “How should I know? How could I possibly know Momo knows your friend?”