Chapter 159: Chapter 141: The person who doesn’t sleep has Aina’s tail to play with~_1Luo Xi glanced at the text projection floating in front of his eyes.

[Traveler, you have entered deep sleep...]

The Dream World situation had stabilized for the moment, but in reality, he seemed to have landed himself in trouble again.

The middle-aged man, seeing Luo Xi’s perplexed expression, thought he was still in a daze.

After all, as a college student living in a peaceful era, who has experienced such incidents?

He called out to someone behind him, "Xiao Mu, you come and talk to him, I’m really not good at conversing with young people."

"Sure, Brother Zhang."

A rather handsome young man pushed the door open and came in.

The young man sat down, smiled at Luo Xi, and said, "Mr. Luo, hello, my name is Mu Yao, ’Mu’ as in ’herding cattle’ and ’Yao’ as in ’Sunday’. I’m also a staff member of the Haicheng City Travel Bureau." sea??h thё novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"You needn’t worry about being arrested by us for last night’s incident. Those people were extremely vicious fugitives who specialize in attacking Dreamland Travelers, players like you, that is. You killed one of them, and, strictly speaking, we should actually give you a reward. But first, please describe in detail the situation you encountered last night."

"Oh..."

Luo Xi then realized they were referring to last night’s player hunter attack.

[Note: Damn Traveler, did you think the police found out about the nasty things you did to the beast-eared Lolitas in the Dream World?]

All I did was nibble on Aina’s Big Tail for a bit! That’s not some nasty deed!

Luo Xi didn’t respond but instead asked, "Why was I targeted by them?"

The middle-aged man explained, "Those player hunters probably have some kind of forum to collect the identity information of all potential players nationwide and share it with each other. You must have made their list of suspects. You’ve shown some unusual abilities lately, haven’t you?"

Luo Xi: "..."

He pondered for a while and then slowly said, "Last night, I was playing the game in bed when they suddenly broke through my apartment door and attacked me. There were three of them. I desperately fought back and managed to kill one of them. The other two then fled. I was nearly scared to death, my head all dizzy, so I left home and went outside to calm my nerves."

Mu Yao: "(⊙o⊙)..."

Desperate counterattack?

You managed to take on three and kill one, driving off the other two, and you’re saying that was desperate resistance?

The middle-aged man laughed on the side, "It’s normal, considering he has become a Mutated Transcender. Those player hunters, many of whom haven’t fully reached Transcendence yet, just rely on their good talents to cause trouble."

Luo Xi: "!"

How did these people know... He slapped his forehead.

Fxxk, my hat’s gone!

Seeing Luo Xi’s troubled expression, Mu Yao quickly explained, "Sorry, our staff couldn’t wake you up in the park, so they brought you here. Your hat fell off along the way, which is how we found the Projection of your Mutation traits."

"But you don’t have to worry about us doing anything to you. In fact, some of our staff at the Dreamland Travel Bureau are also following the path of Mutation, because the road to Sublimation—according to what we know—requires too many resources."

The middle-aged man also added, "There are quite a few unlucky players who have turned into Variants in the Dream World, or have simply chosen Variant talents from the beginning. We are not like those ’normal’ people in the Dream World who only persecute Mutant Patients endlessly. That’s pure inhumanity."

Luo Xi: "..."

Their words offered him some relief.

Also, why would anybody actively choose Variant talents from the start?

The middle-aged man paused, then said, "Of course, Mutation does cause quite a few problems. If it gets to an irreversible point, then we can only suggest that you do not Resurrect after death, and never log back into ’Dawn’. That way, the degree of your Mutation will permanently stay at the point your character died."

Luo Xi nodded silently.

So there is a way to suppress real-life Mutations after all.

He asked, "What exactly is up with this game?"

Mu Yao gave a wry smile, "I’m not very clear either. Actually, our department and staff were only established a few months ago. You should know about the conference this afternoon at 2 o’clock, where our bureau’s leadership will come to answer questions. I suggest you could go and listen."

"Established a few months ago?"

Luo Xi frowned, "Could it be that before this beta test, there was an older batch of players?"

Mu Yao looked back at the middle-aged man, who nodded, and then said, "You guessed right. ’Dawn’ has been undergoing small-scale tests several times before, with no more than a thousand player slots available worldwide each time. This time though, it’s a large-scale beta test with a total of a hundred thousand slots."

"I see."

Luo Xi looked out the window where it was pitch dark and asked,

"What time is it now?"

"Two o’clock in the morning," Mu Yao said with a smile. "We have already sent someone to clean up your house, ensuring no trace of blood is left. Of course, I suggest you still move out."

Luo Xi: "..."

There was no need to tell him to move; he would have done so anyway.

Beep—

The middle-aged man’s cellphone suddenly made a noise.

He picked it up, and his expression changed drastically.

Luo Xi picked up his own phone from the bedside.

[The conference scheduled for October 1st at 2 PM has been postponed, with the restart time undetermined. All players are advised to keep their personal information confidential and not to disclose any personal details. Some shareable information will be sorted and sent to the confirmed Travelers’ civilian email addresses.]

Mu Yao looked at his phone, puzzled, "Why was it suddenly postponed? Many people have been waiting."

The middle-aged man said gravely, "Maybe the higher-ups suspect there’s an inside spy."

With so many players gathered in one place, if there was a leak at the top, there could be the possibility of getting caught in a single sweep, the consequences of which were unthinkable.

An inside spy...

Luo Xi heard this with a bit of a headache.

The middle-aged man looked at Luo Xi and suddenly asked, "Mr. Luo, are you interested in joining us? After passing the assessment, you can become a formal staff member, with a salary of about twenty thousand per month, and benefits."

Luo Xi was startled, then shook his head, "Sorry."

Under normal circumstances, joining the system might have been great, with a high salary to boot, but in these unpredictable times, where you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, it’s better to remain an ordinary citizen.

The middle-aged man let out a somewhat regretful sigh.

Although the number of players will increase over time, even those with potential need time to grow.

The higher-ups will have to come up with a method to punish those player hunters, or else the populace will live in constant fear, throwing society into chaos.

Luo Xi asked quietly, "Can I go back now?"

"Yes, you’re near the park where you passed out last night."

The middle-aged man nodded, "Be cautious these days, and if you need help, give us a call. Your rating on the player hunters’ list has definitely risen after this, and also, don’t let power blind you. Last night, you almost drowned that homeless man; normally, you’d be detained for a while for such behavior, but considering your unstable emotions at the time, we’ll let it slide."

Luo Xi: "..."

After getting off the bed, the middle-aged man gave Luo Xi a new hat. He smiled and said, "When we figure out a way to conceal the characteristics of Mutation, you’ll be the first to know, along with the other players of your kind."

"Thank you."

Luo Xi put the hat on his head and walked out the door.

Then, he realized this place was really damn the police station! There was a cop on duty in the lobby.

[Note: Trash Traveler, you’ve ended up in the slammer after all, right? This is the destiny of a Loli-con!]

Damn it all!

After Luo Xi left, Mu Yao turned to the middle-aged man, "Shouldn’t we keep him here and ask him more? The things in his house... they bother me..."

Like the wardrobe full of girls’ clothes.

The university student seemed of a normal build; he wouldn’t fit into those small sizes, even if it was women’s clothing. Surely he hadn’t done anything perverse to those little girls in the game, right?

"What others do in games is none of our concern; asking about it can cause resentment."

The middle-aged man sighed, "In the future, we’ll probably see no end to these kinds of issues. After the game updates, we won’t even be able to confiscate phones as a restriction. The world is changing."

...

"Achoo—"

Luo Xi, just stepping out of the police station, sneezed inexplicably.

Life sure was magical these days.

Compared to his twenty-odd years of existence, the past few days had reshaped his entire worldview.

No telling what the future would hold.

[Note: At least, Traveler, you still have your beast-eared Lolita]

Right, I still have my beast-eared Lolita...

Damn Text, shut up!

Scolding the Damn Text improved Luo Xi’s mood a bit.

He caught a taxi back to his old house, only to find someone waiting for him outside.

The person in a hazmat suit told him, "Good evening, sir, we’ve cleaned up the scene and the door has been fixed. You can move back in. Please get some rest early."

"..."

Luo Xi wasn’t yet emotionally resilient enough for this.

Of course, he couldn’t just leave—the cats’ furniture was all there.

He’d move everything once he found a new place in a couple of days.

Luo Xi went upstairs to check and found that indeed, there was no trace of blood left, only a faint scent of it lingering in the air.

Sitting by the bed, Luo Xi had a thought.

Why not play the game a bit more?

He wasn’t all that keen on sleeping anyway.

In the game, he was supposed to be in Wei’er and Aina’s room, although, who knows if Cat Cat had thrown him out while he was knocked out.

[Traveler, you are sleeping deeply...]

[Do you want to wake up?]

Luo Xi hesitated for a moment.

[Yes]

[Traveler, you surreptitiously open your eyes]

[You find yourself still sitting on the floor, but you’re covered with a thick blanket, likely the doing of Aina or Wei’er]

[Ding! Your Touching Value +10]

[To your amazement, you discover the hand you had placed on the bed has somehow made its way into the blanket of two beast-eared Lolitas, feeling quite warm]

[However, maintaining the position of holding your hat by the bed for so long has made your hand quite numb. You want to move a little but touch something warm, seemingly a soft, fluffy object]

[What could it be?]

[Aina’s Big Tail! (Immediate answer)]

[Ding! Your Happiness Level +20]

Luo Xi: "!"

[Note: Sneakily petting the Big Tail, Loli-con Traveler, did you anticipate all of this? Tsk!—]