Standing still with his right hand in a plaster cast, Chen Yu watched his sniffling, tearful chubby neighbor and felt a surge of compassion, "My subject, please rise."
"Yu, I'm really begging you here," the neighbor clung to Chen Yu's legs, "Stop tormenting me, will you? I was wrong to report you back then. Why don't you just take a piece of my kidney and sell it? Please, let me go. Will you?"
"Silly child," Chen Yu stroked the neighbor's head with his healthy left hand, "If I let you go, who else would let you go?"
"...Huh?"
"Great tasks are given to the worthy; first to toughen their resolve, toil their bodies, harm their wealth, and destroy their lives. I'm all doing this for your own good."
Having said that, Chen Yu paused for half a second before adding, "I've just memorized that these last couple of days."
"That's not the right quote..."
"Isn't it?" Chen Yu was startled, "What's the original version?"
The chubby neighbor knelt there, counting on his fingers as he recalled, "The original text should be 'Great tasks are given to the worthy; first to toughen their resolve, toil their... No, that's not what we're discussing right now! Can you please stop pestering me?"
"No," Chen Yu shook his head, firm in his stance, "You are the hope of our humanity; I can't just stand by and watch you continue to fall..."
Before Chen Yu could finish his sentence, the chubby neighbor suddenly got up and, like a man possessed, charged into the kitchen. After a hysterical search, he grasped a kitchen knife and ran back to thrust it into Chen Yu's hands, trembling with excitement, "Go on! Big brother, just kill me! Would you just kill me directly? Chop down! Yes! One strike! That way you'll have your revenge and I'll be freed, and the whole world will be free! We'll all be free!"
Chen took the knife and examined it for a moment, sniffing it at his nose with a frown, "Did you use this to chop onions before? Why didn't you clean it? This smell."
The chubby neighbor: "..."
"Clang."
Chen casually tossed the knife aside and gently patted the neighbor's shoulder, "Silly child, how could I bear to kill you. You're my source of joy... you're the source of my beautiful future life."
"Chen Yu!"
With eyes as large as those of any human, the chubby neighbor started panting heavily, veins bulging on his neck, "Let me tell you, don't you fucking push it too far! You're just fucking with me! Don't think I don't know!"
"Hmm. You're right," Chen nodded and asked, "So what do you think about the latest artificial intelligence GTP?"
"Are you fucking listening to me at all?" shouted the neighbor.
"Shh!" Chen suddenly lowered his voice, cautiously looked around, and spoke seriously, "When we men hit the high note A4, we should start mixing in some head voice. Otherwise, it's really damaging to the throat, and the quality of the high note isn't that good either."
The chubby neighbor: "..."
Chen Yu: "Did you get it?"
The rage that had risen began to distort and dissipate. The neighbor stood silently for a while, rubbed his face vigorously, turned around, and silently walked to his computer desk, "Chen Yu, you like to play, right? Fine. From now on, I will not have even the slightest emotional reaction because of you. I'll see how long you can keep this up."
Saying that, he sat down at the computer desk and emotionlessly booted up the PC.
But as soon as it was on, he roared again, "Fuck! How did my mouse break?"
"... and the computer desk is cracked?"
"Damn it! And my wall! Where's my wall paint gone?"
Chen Yu spread his hands in bewilderment, "I don't know."
"Get out!!" the chubby neighbor screamed, "Get out of my house!"
"Calm down," Chen Yu said, lightly pressing with his left hand, "Your fly is open."
The chubby neighbor: "..."
His lips trembling slightly, the neighbor couldn't help his eyes reddening again. Without giving Chen Yu a glance, he fished out a new mouse from under the bed, connected it to the computer, and silently began to play a game.
Crying while playing.
Really.
He was filled with regret now.
Immense, immense, immense, immense regret.
Why did he have to make that impulse report call back then?
To suffer such painful torment now.
During these three days in the police station, he meticulously reflected on his recent life. It was like he'd been cursed with the unluckiest of stars.
His peaceful days were completely ruined by that damn Chen Yu.
Fortunately, the female coach was not in danger for her life and she had a good constitution, just fainted for a while.
Otherwise, he would have spent his entire life in prison!
But what if it continued?
He believed that sooner or later, Chen Yu would be the death of him.
"Huuu—"
He took a deep breath, the plump neighbor adjusted his mood, and focused his attention on the computer screen. He decided to completely ignore Chen Yu from then on.
A clown with no "audience" has no reason to continue "playing"...
However, perhaps his mindset hadn't been fully adjusted.
The rank game he played that round was remarkably poor.
His score was 0—27—0.
Not only were his teammates in the game filled with rage, cursing profusely.
Even Chen Yu, who stood behind watching the game, was so angry that he kicked, shattering the computer along with the desk into pieces!
"Crash—"
Everything scattered on the floor.
Sparks flew everywhere.
"With skills like that, you motherfucker should quit gaming!" Chen Yu's strength burst out like a wild beast's, as he picked up the astonished hefty neighbor with one hand and flung him fiercely!
He landed on the bed four meters away.
"Boom!"
dust and wood chips filled the air...
Once the dust settled,
the plump neighbor was completely dumbfounded, staring at Chen Yu in disbelief, "You... you... you... Are you human or a ghost?"
"Motherfucker, if the game developers knew their game could be played this poorly by you, they'd delete the code overnight."
Kicking the remaining intact computer components to pieces, Chen Yu advanced aggressively, grabbing the neighbor's collar once more, "You're just pure, unadulterated trash! Don't fucking pollute the gaming community anymore, read some damn books!"
Saying so, Chen Yu, like a magician, pulled out a stack of "Three Year College Entrance Examination, Five Year Simulations" workbooks and slammed them down on the neighbor, "Study! Study hard for me! Get rid of that goddamn 'Useless Otaku' title on your head!"
Hanging in mid-air, the plump neighbor seemed to have forgotten his anger and quickly took the stack of papers, asking in a dazed, low, and cautious tone, "Isn't... isn't it supposed to be about working out..."
"I changed my mind! With a brain like yours, you need TM to supplement your brain first!"
The anger gradually faded. Chen Yu only felt the "fatso" in his hand getting heavier, and he quickly put him down, "Ungrateful bastard. I've gone to such lengths to help you grow and you throw a fit. From now on, whatever I say, you listen! Otherwise, I'll stuff you into the septic tank downstairs immediately, let you wash your brain thoroughly! Got it?"
"Ah... Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!" The startled plump neighbor nodded rapidly like a pecking chicken.
"Get lost! You must finish all of this today!"
"Yes, yes, yes." The plump neighbor quickly clutched the stack of papers tightly to his chest, bowing and heading out the door in fear, escaping into Chen Yu's rental.
"..."
"..."
Standing in the doorway of Chen Yu's house, the plump neighbor blanked for about two minutes, then blinked, lifted his head, and looked up at the ceiling, "..."
"Something seems a bit off..."
...