"Is everyone still here?" Yin Meng said. His eyes scanned through the small crowd and counted heads. Once everyone was accounted for he let out a quiet, "Good."
He walked over to Shen Lin, who was searching through the bookcases, and asked, "What are you doing?"
She turned to him with a smirk, "Trying to find a secret passageway. You know, like in the movies."
The space in between his brows shrunk and the sight of the woman's eased smile. But he let it off with a sigh. He knew that out of most of the people here, she was one of the most reliable. At that thought, he turned to glance at Ye Delun, who was watching Kang Maixiu flick the large Xiang Tingfeng in the forehead over some conversation.
It was unknown what was exactly going through his head. But it seemed to him, that out of everyone here, it was only him who had a clue on what was going on.
On the other side, with Ye Delun. He watched Xiang Tingfeng get taken down by a single finger of Kang Maixiu's. Kang Maixiu didn't seem to be having any of Xiang Tingfeng's behavior and called out to him in an annoyed tone. "Why are you acting like I'm going to kill you. It was a single flick."
Xiang Tingfeng only held onto his forehead, "Maixiu... why are your fingers so strong. Is it because of your training with the pencil?"
"..."
This time, he hit him across the back of his head.
At the words 'training', Ye Delun's zoned-out mind came back to reality. "Oh yeah." He said. "I was meaning to ask before. But can I ask how you get your body like that? Can I have some advice?"
"E-eh?" Xiang Tingfeng sputtered and turned pink. "You want advice from me? Why?"
Ye Delun blankly stared at the truck-sized biceps and told him, "Because you're huge. I wanna be like that too."
The shy large man waved his hands around and spoke randomly like some 16-year-old schoolgirl being asked about her crush. "I-It's nothing really. I just do some workout's here and there. It's not that big of a deal." He continued to talk down at himself and how he wouldn't have any good advice to give him.
Kang Maixiu luckily interfered once Xiang Tingfeng hit mass embarrassment and had started giving him signals. "The guy was just built like that. He's always been large, ever since we were young."
Catching on, Xiang Tingfeng cut in. "Y-yeah, yeah. It's in my genes. My mom and dad were just as large as I am. It's genetics."
A frown appeared on Ye Delun's face and he seemed very disappointed. "Genetics?" He spat out. He was very bitter. With his genetics, he was sure that he wouldn't be gaining my muscle mass anytime soon. One of the many cons to being naturally weak.
Seeing Ye Delun's downcast mood, Xiang Tingfeng tried to fix his mistake. "I-It's not all in the genetics! Hard work is just as effective! I'm sure you can get there once you try!"
Again, Ye Delun's mood worsened. Hard work wasn't exactly his forte. With his extremely weak body, just running was problematic. He thought back to when he had to run through that hallway filled with half-naked girls. Or back when he had to move those boxes. Ye Delun wasn't a physical person. His strength was minuscule his bones are fragile.
What was even worse, was that he couldn't cheat his way through. Drugs in his body wouldn't work well at all. That, and with Ye Delun's mother on his mind, he could never do it.
'Mother had always said that hard work was the only way to accomplish what you want...' And it seemed that just like the mother she was, she was always right. That is, to a point. After all, he was technically buff at the moment. But this form had a natural strength, not the overwhelming toughness like his dream body.
"Excuse me." A voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head and saw Yeng Lan sitting in the empty spot next to him. He blinked in surprise and searched for the duo that he was talking with before. Only to see them sitting on a separate couch, with Kang Maixiu calmly speaking to the attentive Xiang Tingfeng while drinking from his now cold cup of tea.
"Yeah?" He said to the young girl sitting next to him. He didn't mind talking to her. The system would have made him talk to someone else anyways.
"I just wanted to ask how you're so unfazed by all of this?" She awkwardly shifted on the cushion. Along with her tense figure and fidgeting fingers, Ye Delun assumed she was uneased.
Ye Delun studied the girl's face. She was relatively plain. Brown mid-length hair, large brown eyes, and a pretty face. Just like any other otome female protagonist.
He remembered whenever he was playing the game from the female's perspective, the system would ask him to speak to someone. Just like the message that had shown up in front of him before. And as the girl in front of him was in the same game, it could only mean that she too got that message.
'Does that mean...that she chose me?'
It was weird thinking that unlike everyone else in the room, this woman was actually like him. A player that was in another body. It was just that their purpose was different. They were here to find someone to bring home with them and live with them forever. A happy ending. While Ye Delun was here for the sights, romance wasn't even close to his mind.
But nonetheless, he was flattered.
"Mmm, yeah. It's not that scary." He told her. Of course it wasn't as scary. Where were the jumpscares, the chase scenes, and the terrifying monsters? Wasn't this suppost to be horror? All he has seen was a nasty corpse.
She seemed shocked by his answer but tried her best to hide it with an impressed look. "You must be pretty tough. I wish I could handle it as well as you..."
Ye Delun blanked as he watched her curl into herself in embarrassment. He wasn't at all a tough guy, just unresponsive.
He thought that the woman's acting was impressive. Just like him, the system would control what he needed to do at times and what he would say. It was the same for her. But even in conversations like this, she was still keeping up her act, he thought it was impressive. It was exactly what Kang Maixiu wanted him to do earlier, act more.
"Nah, I'm just used to it." He really was. To the point that he can't get that feeling anymore.
"Really? Do you go through things like this all the time?"
"No, I just really like scary things. They're cool."
"Like the movies?" She raised her eyebrow in interest. Her eyes gleamed as she was expecting an answer.
"I guess. But I like games better."
"That's what I think too! They're just so much more immersive and fun!"
Ye Delun's eyes widened as he looked at the excited young girl, "Wait... You like horror games too?"
"Yeah!" She looked at him in a weird way, as if she was surprised he would ask. And although she wasn't really expecting it from him, Ye Delun still thought that he should have known. After all, the two of them willingly put themselves into a horror-love game.
Without his permission, Ye Delun felt his face tink pink and an excitement course through his veins. He was happy that someone else liked the same thing as him. "Yeah, it's way better to play the game. I got a whole stash of them on my computer. So whenever I get bored I replay them."
"Mine too!" The girl exclaimed. "So much that my janky computer ended up breaking and I had to buy a whole new one."
For the first time since he's gotten here, a happy smile appeared on Ye Delun's face as a laugh came out of his mouth. "Yeah. That happened to me too. Luckily, Christmas was near and my parents bought me a new one as a present."
The two conversed together happily as they talked about their favorite games and movies. The tense feeling Yang Lan had earlier disappeared. Whether it was because she felt eased or broke character was unknown. It wasn't until Host stormed through the room that they had to stop.