5:53 A.M.
Since he literally slept the whole day yesterday, Xia Shishu couldn't sleep no matter what he tried. Naturally, he wouldn't stay inside the house and die of boredom.
The morning was gently lit with faint rays of light brightening up the world across the horizon. The ground emitted a fresh smell with the morning dew covering the green plants and trees.
The surrounding was still a little dark with only the streetlights on the roads illuminating the area. The neighborhood is still asleep, and the only thing that broke the silence was the newspaper guy on a motorcycle in a distance.
Taking a stroll with his school uniform on, Xia Shishu came to a stop in front of Second Reality's center building. 'Since it's open and barely any customer is around, maybe I should get my gaming equipment now rather than later,' Xia Shishu thought to himself.
As soon as Xia Shishu entered the building's lobby, he caught sight of a girl his age at the receptionist's table.
"What the heck are you doing here?" The girl scowled at Shishu.
Shishu looked at the girl calmly, seriously saying, "Li Xieye, don't think too highly of yourself. I'm just here to get the gaming equipment. It's not like I'm stalking you."
Li Xieye was a girl that Xia Shishu dated a little back. During their time together as a couple, Xia Shishu would try his best to be a good boyfriend. The reason being is that he was beginning to 'love' her, and he had the dream of only having one girlfriend!
Yet, apparently having a 'nice' and 'kind' boyfriend was boring in Li Xieye's book... She broke up with Xia Shishu after school one day, and she gave him countless excuses.
Xia Shishu and Li Xieye spoke for a while, and it came to a point where Xia Shishu asked her, "I'm willing to wait for you until college or even after. Will you wait for me?" Xieye's response was that she doesn't want to think about relationships and that they'll see in the future.
Although his heart was hurting, Xia Shishu eventually respected her choice and gave her space. It would've been fine if it ended here, but No! Li Xieye disregarded Xia Shishu and got another boyfriend the very next day! She even acted cutely and showed off her boyfriend to Xia Shishu, making him quite mad.
In the end, he still didn't understand why she did that and he doesn't want to know, so he ignored her. Xia Shishu just tried to forget and not let it bother his life. It's been said that women are mysterious creatures before right? For some reason, she is mad at Xia Shishu up to this day.
Li Xieye blanked at Xia Shishu's words, lowering her head in silence.
Standing behind her, he waited for the people who entered the back room to finish with their business. It's the early morning so it's understandable that they're not that many workers.
In a short while, five people came out showing their new gaming equipment to each other.
The equipment to access Second Reality had three forms: It could be a bracelet, necklace, or a capsule. The Capsule wasn't free as it costs money and allowed players to stay in the game for an extended period of time.
"Hey, I can't wait to play Second Reality. Does anyone want to start off at the same place and party up?" A youth with brown hair asked the other four.
"Sure! Which Beginner village?" Two of them readily accepted.
"No, I'm a solo player." A middle-aged man said.
As for the last person, he just stayed quiet and walked out of the building.
Xia Shishu looked at them and couldn't help but think about how the attitude of humans differ so much.
"Are the two of you here for the Second Reality equipment? Follow me if you are."
The receptionist called the Xia Shishu and Li Xieye out and took them towards the backroom. The Second Reality's receptionist is quite the beauty, Xia Shishu complimented her in his mind.
Walking through the hallway with the beauty receptionist and his ex-girlfriend, Xia Shishu was laughing inwardly and joked, "Beauty on my right and ex-girlfriend on my left! Hehehe my life is filled with ladies!".
Xia Shishu did hate his ex-girlfriend a little, but he wouldn't let her get in his life and change his attitude.
"Please sign the form and provide a sample of your DNA to bind your equipment. A strand of hair or your saliva would do. Also, write down which of the two equipment you would like to use." The beauty receptionist informed the duo as she gave them the forms.
Xia Shishu quickly signed the form and took off a strand of his hair. He requested for a violet bracelet form Second Reality since he doesn't like to wear necklaces. As for the color? It's just his preference.
Li Xieye did the same thing, except she chose the necklace.
Another worker came to get their items and took them to another room. 10 mins later, they received their gaming equipment.
Xia Shishu decided to go to school early today since he doesn't have anything else to do. Unsurprisingly, Li Xieye did the same thing too.
As they took the same path to school, they were in each other's sight of vision. Because of what happened in the past, Xia Shishu didn't want to walk side by side with her so his pace gradually increased.
Li Xieye stared at Xia Shishu and saw his pace getting faster. Not willing to lose her women's pride, she went faster and faster until she surpassed him.
"Humph trying to beat me? Let's see you try!" Xia Shishu said as he jogged past Li Xieye.
Eventually, they began running towards their school. Li Xieye arrived at their school in 15 minutes, of which would've taken around 35 minutes if one walks from the Second Reality building.
Seeing that she got to school before Xia Shishu, she felt proud. She doesn't even see Xia Shishu at all, he was left in the dust!
___
"YAWNN, that girl is crazy. She can run all she wants. why would this immortal compete for victory with a mortal? Hehehehe." Xia Shishu spoke to himself as he walked to school.
Halfway through when they began running, Xia Shishu slowed down and came to a stop.
"Hahaha, running is really tiring. Maybe my spirit animal is a turtle. Enjoying life is the best after all, why rush? It's not like I couldn't beat the girl… It's totally not that at all. Even though she is on the Track Team, that doesn't mean I can't beat her… I just showed mercy. Yep. yep."
While talking to himself, Xia Shishu entered his classroom after spending a long time walking to school.
As for what he saw in the classroom?
Ahh, the heavens have turned over. The mountains have crumbled. The rivers dried up!
That Damn Li Xieye was making out with her boyfriend alone in the classroom! As her previous boyfriend, Xia Shishu didn't like to see this. Even though they never kissed, they were together for a period of time nonetheless.
Seeing that Xia Shishu walked into the classroom, the couple stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
Li Xieye's boyfriend evilly smiled and walked over to Xia Shishu.
Li Xieye's boyfriend seemed to be quite the stunner to some girls in the school.
Seeing that that guy was walking towards him, Xia Shishu couldn't help but feel annoyed. He doesn't want to talk to this irritating stunner. All the guy does is sweet talk and talk and talk! Most people should agree, Death to all annoying IKEMENS!
"Hi classmate, you're early today." The guy stopped in front of Xia Shishu with his right hand on his hip.
"Hello. Do you need anything?" Xia Shishu greeted the guy. Even though Xia Shishu doesn't like the guy, he still wants to show courtesy.
"I see that you have a Second Reality equipment today. I'm leading some of the guys and gals in the class and school to make a team for Second Reality. Everyone in the team right now decided to name the team Unstoppable Youths. How about it, would you join our team?" The guy persuaded.
While the guy was talking, Xia Shishu saw that Li Xieye lifted her head up and looked at their direction with a scornful look, seeming to say "Obediently join and become a servant you dog."
Seeing Li Xieye's actions, Xia Shishu turned serious. He looked at the annoying giraffe in the eyes and asked, "That team name doesn't really sound good. I might join if you guys change it."
Li Xieye's boyfriend was elated! If this darn ex-boyfriend joins the team, he could humiliate him through Second Reality. He didn't know why, but his girlfriend had told him that she would let him do anything to her if Xia Shishu was humiliated! This is his chance! He must get this stupid guy to join the team that he's leading!
"Hahaha classmate, if you don't like it then I'm sure we can change it. I can ask everyone to change it to a better team name. Do you have any empowering team name?"
"Yes, I do!" Xia Shishu replied in all seriousness.
"Oh? What is it? I'll make sure we change it if it's a good name." Li Xieye's boyfriend was over the moon! Just a change of name to exchange for doing anything to Li Xieye, isn't this the best offer ever?
Xia Shishu placed his hand on the guy's shoulder, sternly staring at him before saying in a loud voice, "I want it to be called Xia Shishu's Team. It's really empowering! I bet it can bring or the morale of everybody by a couple of notches!"