"Tulungan mo akong magtiklop ng kumot. Nagdala ako ng umagahan"
Matapos tumayo ni Ye Xiu at naghilamos, nakita niya yung sticky note. Matapos niyang ayusin ang kwarto at pumunta siya sa sala at tumingin. Wala siyang masabi at humihikbi. Alas tres na, sino pa kayang sa mundo ang iinom ng soy milk at kakain ng YouTiao sa mga oras na ito? At malamig na din ito.
(TLNote: YouTiao are like deep-fried strips of dough. The texture's like a donut, but they're usually salty rather than sweet.)
Pero kung sasabihin mo ito ng ganito ay itinabi at iniwan talaga ng boss ito para sa kanya, marapat lang siya bigyan ng mukha. Kinuha ni Ye Xiu ang YouTiao at nilagay ito sa kanyang bibig. Matapos niyang hawakan ito gamit ang kanyang bibig ay umalis na siya ng kwarto.
Ang bagong server ng glory ay patuloy pa rin nagdadala ng sikat sa Internet Café. Kaya lang ang Happy Café ay malaki at bibihira lang na mapuno lahat ng mga upuan. Tumingin sa paligid si Ye Xiu at naghanap ng open spot sa smoking area. Pero ng kapain niya ang kanyang bulsa napagalamanan niyang walang laman ang cigarette box nito. Mas masakit pa ito sa pagkain ng malamig na YouTiao! At ang mas masakit pa rito ay wala din siyang pera. Paano na niya mapapalipas ang araw?
Pakiramdam ni Ye Xiu dapat niyang tanungin ang boss kung pwede niyang makuha ang sahod niya in advance. Kahit na kasama na ang tirahan at pagkain, kakaunti lang siya kumain. Araw-araw kumakain lang siya ng dalawang meal. At isa pa hindi niya alam kung sapat ba ang natira niyang pera para sa sigarilyo. Peor kung iisipin ang pagkasuklam ni Chen Gou sa paninigarilyo, nararamdaman na ni Ye Xiu na mahihirapan siyang gawing realidad ito.
Habang pinapagana niya ang kanyang imahinasyon, may biglang nagpat sa kanyang likuran. At kaagad naman siyang lumingon dito.
Si Chen Gou ang nagpat sa likod ni Ye Xiu. Pagikot niya sa ulo niya, muntikan ng sumampal ang YouTiao sa bibig nito sa mukha ni Chen Gou. Dahil sa temper ni Chen Gou agad naman itong nag sermon: "Hawak mo sa bibig mo ang sigarilyo. Hawak mo sa bibig mo ang YouTiao. Bakit hindi mo mahawakan ang bibig mo? Hindi mob a magamit ang kamay mo?"
Kung iisipin ang kamay, naalala tuloy ni Chen Gou kung gaano kaganda ang mga kamay ni Ye Xiu. Yung maitiman lang ang kamay nito ng dahil lang sa sigariylo o mamantikaan lang ng Youtiao nakakapanghinayang. Pero iyon ilalagay niya ang mga sigarilyo at YouTiao sa bibig niya ay tama? F*ck, nakakasakit sa ulo. Iniling iling ni Chen Gou ang kanyang ulo tsaka timingin ng matagal kay Ye Xiu: "Sumama ka saakin"
Sinundan naman ni Ye Xiu si Chen Gou papunta sa reception desk. Kung saan nakaupo doon si Tang Rou. Nung makita niya si Chen Gou kasa-kasama si Ye Xiu, agad itong tumayo at ngumiti.
"Tang Rou, Ye Xiu" pakilala ni Chen Gou sa dalawa.
"Hi." Inabot naman ni Tang Rou ang kamay niya. Tinignan ni Chen Gou ang mga kamay na ito at naramdaman ang ingit sa kanila. Ang mga kamay ni Ye Xiu ay talagang napakaganda, pero panglalaking kamay talaga ito. Kung ito ay pang babaeng kamay, medyo malaki ito. Ang mga kamay naman ni Tang Rou ay talagang pang totoong babae. Kung maghahanap ka ng pang-uring gagamitin: fine jade, payat, malambot, mabilis at iba pa na maaaring magsalarawan ng kamay ni Tang Rou ay hindi maglalabis.
"Hi, hi" nung sabihin ni Ye Xiu ito ay nasa bibig pa nito ang Youtiao at marahas niya itong nilalamon, kaya naman hindi masyadong malinaw ang kanyang sinasabi. Nung makitang inaabot n Tang Rou ang kanyang kamay sa kanya, madali naman niya itong ginawa balik.
Matapos nilang magkipagkamayan sa isa't isa. Tinignan din ni Tang Rou ang kamay ni Ye Xiu habang pinapanatili ang kanyang manners. Habang nakakamayan sila ay mabilis niya itong tinignan. Matapos ay patuloy niyang tinignan ng magalang si Ye Xiu sa mga mata.
Matapos ang ordinaryong makikipagkamay, kinuha balik nila ang kanilang mga kamay. Hindi man mukhang iba si Ye Xiu sa labas pero medyo gulat din siya sa loob loob niya. Ito ay dahil sa hindi niya inakalang ang babaeng ito, si Tang Rou ay, magiging ganito.
Ang histura niya at katawan, lahat ay na ngingibabaw. Pero maliban sa parteng mararamdaman mong hindi siya ordinaryo sa nilalabas niyang awra. Hugis, hitsura, damit, walang parte sa kanya na makapaparamdam sa ibang tao ng hindi komportable. Kahit saang Angulo mo siya tignan, talagang isa siyang immortal beauty galing sa alamat. Ang tanging naiiba lang na parte ay ang kanyang maikling buhok. Sa una, para kakatwang lang peor kapag nakita mo na ito ng ilang beses pa, ang ganitong klasse ng maiksing buhok ay nagbigay impresyon ng maganda at maaliwalas na siya.
Pero hindi nagulat si Ye Xiu ng dahil dito. Nagulat siya kung bakit ang napakapangiibabaw na babaeng ito ay maluwag sa kaloobang magtrabaho ng part-time sa Internet Café sa loob ng dalawang taon?
Kahit na anong laki ng Happy Internet Café, ang yayaman lang talaga ay si Chen Gou. At para naman sa mga regular na empleyado, ang sweldo rito ay hindi na masama, pero ito ang klase ng trabahong na walang future prospects.
Network Manager, Cashier… anong klaseng kabataan ang gugustuhin ang ganitong trabaho sa buong buhay nila? Ito ay mga temporary jobs lang na maaaring makapakain sa kanila haggang sa mabusog sila. Ang mga normal na tao ay hindi gugustuhing magtrabaho sa ganitong klaseng trabaho ng dalawang taon. Ang gustong lang sabihin ay lalo na sa nakapangiibaw na babaeng katulad ni Tang Rou.
"Halika, Halika, maglaban kayo ng isang round" hindi na hinayaan ni Chen Gou si Ye Xi una pagisipan pa. Matapos niyang ipakilala ang dalawa, nagpunta agad siya sa pinakapunto. Nakatingin siya na para bang nagintay siya ng buong araw at kailangan lang pigilan ang sarili sa pagkaladkad kay Ye Xiu sa paalis ng kama.
"Laban?" tanong ni Ye Xiu
"Glory! Ano pa bang paglalabanan niyo?" sabi ni Chen Gou
"Oh, naglalaro ka ng Glory?" tanong ni Ye Xiu kay Tang Rou
"Hindi, hindi ko alam kung paano" nakangiting sabi ni Tang Rou
Nang marinig ito ni Chen Gou hindi siya masaya: "Kung hindi mo kayang maglaro, ano ako?"
"Kaya mo talagang maglaro. So-so lang naman ako." Sabi ni Tang Rou
"Gaano kagaling ang so-so?" hindi maintindihan ni Ye Xiu.
"Wag kang making sa mapagkumbabang siya, kaya niya talagang maglaro." At hinila n ani Chen Gou ang dalawa sa kanilang mga istasyon.
"Little Tang, gamitin mo ang aking Chasing Haze!" sabi ni Chen Gou at tinanong si Ye Xiu: "At ikaw? Hindi ba nakarating ka na ng Level 20 kagabi? Anong class ang ipinalit mo?"
"Hindi ko pa binabago." Sabi ni Ye Xiu.
"Ano? Hindi mo babaguhin?"
"Naglalaro ako ng Unspecialized" sabi ni Ye Xiu
"Unspecialize?" nagulat naman si Chen Gou. Ultimo sa kanyang limang taon, ang panahon ng unspecialized characters ay matagal ng tapos. Narinig niya lang sa ilang mga beterano nung mabanggit nila ito at ginamit ang mga salitang: Isa lang itong alamat.
"Paano ka naglalaro gamit ang unspecialized character? Paano ka magpapalevel pagdating mo ng level 50?" sabi ni Chen Gou
"Hindi mo kaya noon, pero ngayon kaya mon a" sabi ni Ye Xiu
"Paano ka magpapalevel?" tanong ni Chen Gou
"Heavenly Domain" sabi ni Ye Xiu
"Nagbibiro ka ba?" naglalaking mata na sinabi ni Chen Gou, "Gusto mong makumpleto ang Heavenly Domain Challenges sa Level 50?"
"Magaling ako di ba?"
"Awesome, my ass!" sabi ni Chen Gou "sa level 50 kakalabanin ang Heavenly Domain…" iniisip ni Chen Gou kung gaano ito kahirap. Pero matapos ang ilang oras ay hindi parin siya makarating sa kahit na saan sa pagiisip dahil napakahirap nga nito. Hindi niya din alam kung saan magsisimula.
"Kung gusto mong makita wag mo akong patalsikin" natatawang sabi ni Ye Xiu
"Nababaliw ka na" pagtatapos ni Chen Gou
Tumawa naman si Ye Xiu at naglogged in sa account niya: "Level 21 lang ako. Makikipaglaban ako sa Level 70 sa Fixed Field"
"Gusto mong gamitin iyang bulok mong account?" napalaki ng mata si Chen Gou
"Edi anong gusto mong gamitin ko?" hindi maintindihan ni Ye Xiu.
"Hihiramin ko kung ano mang class ang gusto mo!" ito rin ang dahilan kung bakit gustong malaman ni Chen Gou kung anong class ang ipinalit ni Ye Xiu. Madaming madalas na customer si Chen Gou, kaya naman alam niya at sigurado siyang makakahiram siya ng account para sandaling gamitin.
"Unspecialized…"
"Lumayas ka na!"
Nang tignan ni Tang Rou ang dalawa na medyo interesado. Ng malaman niya na katulad siya ng lahat ng nagsalarawan sa kanya. Itong taong ito talaga ay napakagaling pagdating sa panggagalit kay Chen Gou.
"Pwede naman kaming maglaban ng ganun na lang ng isang round. Hindi naman kailangang maging seryoso!" sabi ni Tang Rou
"Eksakto" pagsangayon ni Ye Xiu
"Paanong ang Level 21 at Level 70 maglalaban" sabi ni Chen Gou
"Fixed Field!" sabi ni Ye Xiu
Walang masabi si Chen Gou. Ang Fixed Fields ay ginagamit para magensayo. Manalo man o matalo hindi ito maitatala. Sa Fixed Field, pwedeng i-fix ng system ang lahat ng attributes at equipment. Pero matapos itong ma-fix, hindi na kaso kung level 21 o level 70 ang character, ang attributes nila ay parehas lang. Pero kahit na fix ang attributes nila, ang pagkakaiba ng dami ng skills nila ay hindi maaaring maayos. Siguradong ang level 21 ay hindi magkakaroon ng skills na matututunan lang pagkatapos ng level 20. At hindi ito maaaring i-fix. Kahit na maglaban ang level 21 at level 70 sa Fixed Field, sigurado paring nasa disadvantage ang level 21.
"Nakalimutan mo. Unspecialized ako. Hindi importante ang Level 20 at Level 70" sabi ni Ye Xiu.
Ngayon lang naintindihan ni Chen Gou, oo nga pala. Kung unspecialized ang character, hindi na bale ang level, kasi ang unspecialized character ay hindi pwedeng matutunan ang level 20 at pataas na skills.
Chapter 47: I'm Playing Unspecialized
"Help me fold the blanket. I brought you breakfast."
When Ye Xiu got up and washed his face, he saw this sticky note. After tidying the room, he went to the living room table and looked. He was speechless and choked with sobs. It was 3 o'clock, who on earth would drink soy milk and eat YouTiao at this time? They were cold too. (TLNote: YouTiao are like deep-fried strips of dough. The texture's like a donut, but they're usually salty rather than sweet.)
But saying it like this meant that the Boss specially left it there and deserved to be given face. Ye Xiu took a Youtiao and put it in his mouth. After holding it in his mouth, he left the room.
Glory's new server continued to bring popularity to the Internet Cafe. However, the Happy Cafe was big enough and there was rarely a time when all of the seats were filled. Ye Xiu turned around and looked for an open spot in the smoking area. But when he felt his pockets, he discovered that his cigarette box was empty. This was much more painful than eating cold Youtiao! The even more painful part was that he had no money either. How was he going to pass the day?
Ye Xiu felt that he should ask the Boss for his pay in advance. Although food and shelter were covered, he ate very little. Every day he only had two meals. Besides this, he didn't know if he saved enough money to smoke. However, thinking of Chen Guo's hate for smoking, Ye Xiu felt he'd have a hard time making this a reality.
While he let his imagination run wild, someone patted his back. He immediately turned his head.
Chen Guo was the one who patted Ye Xiu. With a turn of his head, the Youtiao in his mouth almost slapped Chen Guo's face. Chen Guo, with her temper, immediately began scolding: "You hold cigarettes in your mouth. You hold Youtiao in your mouth. What can't you hold in your mouth? Can you not use your hands?"
Thinking of hands, Chen Guo once again recalled how pretty Ye Xiu's hands were. For those hands to be blackened by smoke or oiled by the Youtiao, that'd be a pity. Could it be that holding cigarettes and Youtiao in the mouth is proper? F*ck, this is making my head hurt. Chen Guo shook her head and glared at Ye Xiu: "Come with me."
Ye Xiu followed Chen Guo to the reception desk. Tang Rou was currently sitting there. When she saw Chen Guo bringing Ye Xiu, she stood up and smiled.
"Tang Rou, Ye Xiu." Chen Guo introduced the two.
"Hi." Tang Rou extended out her hands. Chen Guo looked at these hands and felt envious of them. Ye Xiu's hands truly were pretty, but they were after all male hands. If those were a girl's hands, they'd be a bit too big. Tang Rou's hands were true girl hands. Any adjective used, fine jade, slender, soft, nimble, etc, anything that could describe Tang Rou's hands wouldn't be excessive.
"Hi, hi." When Ye Xiu said this, the Youtiao was stuffed into his mouth and he was chewing violently, so the pronunciation wasn't clear. Seeing Tang Rou extended her hands out, he immediately did the same.
The two shook hands. Tang Rou also payed attention to Ye Xiu's hands and did it while keeping proper manners. While they shook hands, she quickly glanced at it. Afterwards, her gaze continued to look politely towards Ye Xiu's eyes.
After a casual shake, they pulled back their hands. Ye Xiu didn't look any different on the outside, but he was pretty astonished on the inside. This was because he didn't think that this girl, Tang Rou, would be like this.
Her appearance and figure were all outstanding. But the part that made her feel out of the ordinary was the aura that she exuded. Form, appearance, clothes, there was no part of her that made people feel uncomfortable. No matter what angle she was looked at, she was an immortal beauty from the legends. The only different part was her short hair. At first, it looked a bit weird, but after seeing it a couple times, this type of short hair only made her look more fresh and pretty.
But Ye Xiu's astonishment wasn't about this. He was astonished because why would such an outstanding girl be willing to work part-time at an Internet Cafe for two years?
No matter how big Happy Internet Cafe was, the only one who would become rich was Chen Guo. As for regular employees, the salary here wasn't bad, but it wasn't any type of work with future prospects.
Network manager, cashier...what youth would pursue this type of job all their life? These were only temporary jobs so that they could eat their fill. Normal people wouldn't want to work in these types of jobs for two years. To saying nothing of an outstanding girl like Tang Rou.
"Come come come. You guys fight a round." Chen Guo wouldn't let Ye Xiu continue to ponder. After introducing the two, she went straight for the main subject. She looked as if she had waited all day and had to restrain herself from dragging Ye Xiu out of bed.
"Fight?" Ye Xiu asked.
"Glory! Where else can you fight?" Chen Guo said.
"Oh, you can play Glory?" Ye Xiu asked Tang Rou.
"No, I don't know how." Tang Rou smiled.
Chen Guo heard this and was extremely unhappy: "If you can't play, then what am I?"
"You really can play. I'm just so-so that's all." Tang Rou said.
"How good is so-so?" Ye Xiu didn't understand.
"Don't listen to her modesty. She really can play." Chen Guo had already dragged the two to their stations.
"Little Tang, use my Chasing Haze!" Chen Guo said and asked Ye Xiu: "And you? You reached Level 20 yesterday night, right? What class did you change to?"
"I still haven't changed." Ye Xiu said.
"What, you're not going to change?"
"I'm playing unspecialized." Ye Xiu said.
"Unspecialized?" Chen Guo was astonished. Even in her five years, the era of unspecialized characters was already long gone. She had only heard a few veterans bring it up and using their words: it was just a legend.
"How do you play as an unspecialized character? How are you going to level after 50?" Chen Guo said.
"You couldn't before, but now you can." Ye Xiu said.
"How are you going to level?" Chen Guo asked.
"Heavenly Domain." Ye Xiu said.
"Are you joking?" Chen Guo said wide-eyed, "You want to complete the Heavenly Domain challenges at Level 50?"
"I'm awesome, right?"
"Awesome, my ass!" Chen Guos said, "A Level 50 challenging the Heavenly Domain...." Chen Guo tried to analyze how hard that would be. But after awhile she hadn't gotten anywhere because it really was too difficult. She didn't even know where to start.
"If you want to see it, then please don't fire me." Ye Xiu laughed.
"You're mad." Chen Guo concluded.
Ye Xiu laughed and logged into his account: "I'm only Level 21. I'll play against your Level 70 in the Fixed Field."
"You want to use that lousy account?" Chen Guo's eyes widened.
"Then what do I use?" Ye Xiu didn't understand.
"I'll borrow whatever class you want!" This was also why Chen Guo asked what class Ye Xiu changed to. Chen Guo had many frequent customers, so she was certain she could borrow an account to temporarily use.
"Unspecialized….."
"Get lost!"
Tang Rou looked at these two, quite interested. She discovered that he was just like how everyone described. This person was really good at making Chen Guo angry!
"We can just casually fight one round. There's no need to be so serious!" Tang Rou said.
"Exactly." Ye Xiu agreed.
"How are a Level 21 and a Level 70 going to fight." Chen Guo said.
"Fixed Field!" Ye Xiu said.
Chen Guo was speechless. Fixed Field was for practice. Victory or defeat wouldn't be recorded. In Fixed Field, the system would fix all attributes and equipment. After being fixed, it didn't matter if it was a Level 21 and a Level 70 character, their attributes would be the same. But even if the attributes were fixed, the difference in the amount of skills they had couldn't be amended. A Level 21 character definitely wouldn't have skills that could be learned after Level 20. This couldn't be fixed. Even if a Level 21 and a Level 70 fought in the Fixed Field, the Level 21 would still be at a disadvantage.
"You forgot. I'm unspecialized. Level 20 and Level 70 doesn't matter." Ye Xiu said.
Chen Guo finally understood. Right. If it was an unspecialized character, level didn't matter, because unspecialized characters couldn't learn Level 20 and above skills.