Translated by: Novellise
On the other side.
Lu Yuan had already left the rooftop.
His figure moved swiftly through the night, like a hawk, and arrived at a dilapidated apartment building, following familiar paths.
It's called a house.
In reality, the rooms were the size of pigeon cages, built to maximise the building's surface area.
The smallest single room was no more than two square metres.
It could barely accommodate a single bed, so you had to curl up at night, unable to stretch your legs.
For this reason, such single rooms were commonly known to the common people as coffin rooms.
But fortunately they were free.
As long as you were an orphan under the age of eighteen, you could apply for free accommodation.
For single adults who wanted to rent such a room.
The rent alone would cost five thousand a month!
And there was another type of accommodation.
A one-room apartment, only ten square metres in size.
No air conditioning, no water heater, no washing machine.
The kitchen, bathroom and shower were all shared.
Families were crammed into these tiny rooms like sardines in a tin.
For this type of accommodation.
The monthly rent was about ten thousand yuan!
And it was only rented to families with children!
Single people weren't even allowed to rent!
And according to imperial law.
If you had several children, you would get a rent reduction.
For families with a third child or more, not only would there be no rent, there would be additional housing subsidies.
So.
In the social housing.
You could often see a strange phenomenon.
The more impoverished the family, the more likely they were to have children.
Because as long as one child could become a simulator, he could change the fate of the whole family!
Looking at the familiar surroundings and everything.
A touch of nostalgia appeared in Lu Yuan's eyes.
Eight years ago, he had fled Linhai City to come here and finally found a place to settle down.
Although it was only a small coffin room, it was still better than wandering around.
Because of the shortage of public security personnel.
There were no simulators stationed in this low-cost dwelling with over five thousand residents.
Ordinary people could only cover themselves with thick blankets, curl up in bed and endure the invasion and torment of darkness.
Only when the public security officers passed by.
Could they feel a moment of warmth.
But when Lu Yuan arrived.
Many people noticed an anomaly.
It seemed to be warmer tonight than usual?
Lu Yuan climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor and went to the room on the far left.
He stood in front of the door.
He took out his key.
And deftly unlocked the door.
"Creak!"
The door opened.
The sound wasn't loud.
But in the silent darkness, it seemed especially piercing.
In this strange post-apocalyptic world.
Ordinary people dared not sleep too soundly; they usually remained in a half-awake state.
At the sound of a noise.
The residents of the floor would immediately wake up and quietly pull out their cleavers or weapons from under their beds.
It was only when they saw Lu Yuan's familiar figure through the crack in the window that they breathed a sigh of relief.
In the meantime.
Some quick-thinking people immediately thought of one thing.
After nightfall.
Only simulators could move freely at night.
But Lu Yuan returned late at night, unaffected by the erosion and threats of darkness.
This meant.
He had successfully completed the simulated life and had become an official simulator!
At the thought of this possibility, everyone's hearts pounded heavily!
And so.
One by one, the candlelights began to flicker.
Because the outer city lacked the protection of the spiritual rail formations, many utilities couldn't be used at night.
Only expensive, custom-made candles could illuminate the darkness.
"Long time no see, Xiao Yuan, you've become even more handsome. No wonder my daughter always misses you."
"Xiao Feng, come over and quickly greet your brother Lu Yuan."
A middle-aged man held a candle and frantically signalled to his daughter.
However, in his ambition to raise his daughter as a socialite, he had completely forgotten.
Three years ago.
His daughter was confined to her home for three days after only speaking to Lu Yuan a few times.
"Ah, Yan, back so late? Are you hungry? Shall Wang Auntie cook you something to eat?"
"Wang Auntie made some mistakes in the past, please don't let her bother you, okay?"
A middle-aged woman with a stern face stood at the door and spoke nervously.
Lu Yuan looked at her calmly.
The year before, during the Spring Festival.
When he passed by her house on his way home from school, he accidentally caught a whiff of the meaty aroma wafting from the kitchen.
She scolded him for almost half a month.
But the same fierce shrew.
Now she wore a strained smile on her face and enthusiastically invited Lu Yuan to dinner at her place.
If it had been the old Lu Yuan.
There might have been a scene of him returning as king and showing off.
But now.
With decades of simulation experience under his belt, he had put such lowly pleasures behind him.
For these neighbours who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
It was best to ignore them.
Lu Yuan opened the door.
The dimly lit room was cramped.
There was only one bed, no other furniture.
Lu Yuan crouched down.
From under the bed he took out an iron box.
Inside were over two thousand banknotes, some certificates and awards, and a yellowed photograph.
The yellowed photo.
More than thirty children stood at the entrance of an old building, their faces beaming with joy.
On the sign of the building were five big letters.
Aurora Welfare Home.
But the moment Lu Yuan touched the photograph.
The whole picture seemed to catch fire, billowing black smoke.
What appeared to be an ordinary photograph was now like a red-hot branding iron in his hands.
Lu Yuan trembled and instinctively threw the photo to the ground.
Although the flames looked threatening, they couldn't do any damage to the surrounding area.
A few seconds later.
Everything returned to normal.
As Lu Yuan looked back at the photo, he couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation on his scalp.
A cold sensation rose from his coccyx and shot up to his head.
In the photo, next to him.
The faces of all the children slowly disappeared, leaving behind a group of eerie, faceless figures!
"What on earth is happening?"
"Why are their faces disappearing?"
Staring at the photo, Lu Yuan felt a chilling fear.
He had crossed over to this world eight years ago.
And.
For some unknown reason, he had very little memory of his life before the age of ten.
In the jumbled fragments of memory.
He could vaguely remember that one day the Aurora Welfare Home was suddenly engulfed in flames.
The flames reached high into the sky and thick smoke billowed out.
People scattered in all directions.
The kind and gentle old director handed him this photograph.
And told him.
This photograph was very important.
No matter what happens, he must always carry this photo with him.
The seriousness in the man's tone and the determination in his gaze seemed to entrust him with a mission to save the world.
This memory remained vivid in Lu Yuan's mind.
All these years.
Whether on the run or on the move, Lu Yuan always carried this photo with him.
This time, right after the simulation ended, he returned to his former cheap accommodation for this reason.
But to Lu Yuan's surprise.
This seemingly ordinary group photo had taken such a startling turn!
(End of chapter)