Chapter 13

"Hey, you'd better not say that, that game scene is really nice, right?" Chen Hao said to Feng Yan, Feng Yan lowered his head and said nothing, "Hey, you'd better not say that, you were really brutal yesterday, using that sword to kill so many grunts, the key is that sword can also split into two, a divine artifact—why isn't it mine?"

Feng Yan stopped walking; he suddenly recalled that when the sword split into the red sword, he felt as if he had lost consciousness, and when he regained his senses, the madman was already before him—he killed the madman, watching him slowly die before him, Feng Yan erected a stone monument, perhaps out of guilt for him.

"Good morning, Feng Yan, you really didn't hold back in the game, you almost ended the game." Yang Xin laughed, Feng Yan looked at him and said coldly: "Yeah, I should have just taken you out directly." Yang Xin froze for a moment, then said to Feng Yan: "But my luck wasn't bad; after I went outside, someone who claimed to be the National Teacher of the Lilliputian Kingdom helped me, and then let's keep playing, let's see who wins." "Whatever!" Yang Xin slowly walked away, Feng Yan watched his back and cursed: "This bastard, he tricked me, why is he still appearing in front of me?" "That's because you're too kind, or should I say you're a simpleton?" Chen Hao said to Feng Yan. Feng Yan jokingly kicked Chen Hao, Chen Hao shouted: "Go for the kill!" and kicked Feng Yan back, they tussled like that. Although Feng Yan felt strange about his momentary lack of awareness just now, he thought: "It's just the game."

Feng Yan stopped, Chen Hao kicked him, Feng Yan winced and jumped up, clutching his butt, shouting: "You're the one going for the kill!" Chen Hao felt strange: "I didn't use much force, why?" As he thought, he walked toward Feng Yan and said: "You're not faking it, are you?" Feng Yan suddenly turned serious, he said to Chen Hao: "You say? How long can we play this game?" "I don't know, but it seems finishing the storyline inside will take a while." Chen Hao said, Feng Yan's phone rang, he opened it, opened the message, he was stunned for a moment, then said to Chen Hao: "Open beta! Hey, there's another message here, update? What's going on!" Chen Hao snatched the phone and read aloud: "During the internal test, players loved the game a lot, so we moved up the open beta and are making some game updates; this update adds a hidden storyline, improves the images of all countries in the Dream Continent, and adds haptic feedback, allowing players to experience pain, smell, etc. Thank you to the internal test players for their encouragement, and we also give internal test players a game gift pack after they log in."

"Open beta!" Feng Yan shouted, "Does this mean we can meet our classmates in the game, even the homeroom teacher?" Chen Hao nodded, saying: "Let's go, we're almost late!" Feng Yan and Chen Hao ran into the classroom, sat down, and a group of girls chatted: "Did you know? The game went into open beta!" "Really? I'm an internal tester, I still have a gift pack." "Then we can play together!" Chen Hao said to Feng Yan: "Look, the merchant's promotion is pretty on point; there are more than just us two internal testers in the class." Feng Yan chuckled and said: "Of course there are more than just us two, but we are the adventurers who snatched the first national-level weapon!"

"Do you guys know, someone already found the first treasure of the Lilliputian Kingdom and even got a red sword?" "Who's that strong? I remember that even the whole Class 15 Yang Xin got beaten down, and they forcibly took it." "What's that person's ID?" "Looks like Feng Yan." "Feng Yan, could it be our class's Feng Yan?" "It's unlikely, I heard people say he used to be friends with Yang Xin, but after Yang Xin got a girlfriend, he pursued Yang Xin's girlfriend, and I heard they fell out." "In that case, it definitely isn't him." Chen Hao wanted to go over, but Feng Yan grabbed him and said: "Sit down!" Feng Yan's face darkened, Chen Hao angrily said: "Why won't you let me speak?" "If you say it now, who would believe you? It's all in the past, don't bring it up." Feng Yan said calmly. "Ah, you, what should I say?" Chen Hao sighed helplessly. "Let them say what they want; rumors aren't something you and I can clear up with a few words." Feng Yan said, opened his book and started reading. Chen Hao looked at the discussion behind him, his gaze gradually drifting, and he stopped thinking about the theory.

"Let them talk, anyway I don't care anymore." Feng Yan thought, this is Feng Yan's attitude, and also the last tenderness toward his friend Yang Xin; he doesn't know how he managed it, those days Feng Yan truly couldn't move on. But still, victory, I guess, Feng Yan won! He finally let go! Feng Yan turned around and said to Chen Hao: "I think I've let it go." "Yeah, I guess, let's go outside for some fresh air." Chen Hao said, Feng Yan and Chen Hao went out, reaching outside the classroom.

The wind blew over their hair, the autumn wind still so refreshing, Feng Yan gazed outside, taking in the scenery—villages surrounded by darkness, lights dotted here and there emitting a dim glow. After a while, Feng Yan and Chen Hao leaned on the balcony, enjoying this quarter-hour of leisure before self-study. A girl walked over; Chen Hao stared at her, watching her silhouette fade away, then said to Feng Yan: "Buddy, I think I've fallen in love." "You mean? That one just now? I didn't see clearly." Feng Yan said. "You just don't know what a goddess is! Such a perfect face, especially those eyes, full of spirit; the moment they blink, it feels like the world stops." Chen Hao said dreamily. Feng Yan gave a look of disdain: "I think you just caught her eye; I don't find her that pretty, look, she's still okay." "Yeah, yeah, who's saving you who's good-looking, but you're still being gossiped about in class because of this?" Chen Hao said. Feng Yan lowered his head, stayed silent for a long time, then suddenly lifted his head; the night was especially quiet, stars twinkling, he looked at the sky and said: "This is the night sky, stars twinkling, they guide lost people to find their direction, but when will we be unable to gaze at the starry sky, and when we see it again, will we still remember? Our original dream?"

Feng Yan gazed at the night sky, that twinkling starlight, Feng Yan had a lot to say, but today that's all I can say, Feng Yan slowly turned around and headed back to the classroom; behind them, the teacher watched the two enter the classroom, looked at the sky, laughed, and walked straight into the classroom.

Feng Yan returned to his seat and sat down; the teacher walked to the podium and said to the students: "Games are the bane of our students' declining grades; we should study hard. Why did we come to high school? To get into a better university. Why go to university? To make our lives easier, so we no longer worry about our own livelihood or our family's expenses. They say we study for the rise of the nation, but do we really have that ability? Later, you will surely feel proud of yourselves for enduring hardship now." The teacher looked at these students; after long hours of night self-study, their eyes had lost all luster, seeming devoid of vitality. Seeing their eyes, the teacher felt a pang of pain: "But there's nothing we can do— in a place where scoring just one extra point can push you ahead of thousands, they can only, only use this method to get out of this county, to see the outside, to glimpse the lifestyle of city dwellers."

Feng Yan heard these words, silently took out his textbook, looked at the classical Chinese passages above, the fewer articles by Mr. Lu Xun, and Feng Yan sighed: "So this is the path, it's been trodden by people; we are just one among them." Chen Hao looked at the language textbook, thinking about tomorrow's recitation piece, finally he put the book down, walked up to the teacher, and said: "Teacher, can we step out to talk?" The teacher and Chen Hao went out; Chen Hao gazed at the stars in the sky and asked the teacher: "Teacher, those who study well can enter university; what about us, these poor students, what can we do? After the college entrance exam, will we only be cheap labor on paper?" The teacher didn't know how to answer; she also looked at the sky, the twinkling stars seeming to prick her eyes, a hint of sorrow flashed in her gaze and quickly faded; finally she said: "I don't know how you poor students will turn out, but I think everyone has something they should do; those with good grades enter university, poor students aren't necessarily just cheap labor; when people come to this time, they must go through something; if everything went smoothly all the time, that person would be boring; I've always believed that students with poorer grades are actually much better than the good ones, they just happen to be obedient enough, while you have your own personalities—you might not get into university, but you're not necessarily worse than them."

Chen Hao lowered his head; the moon slowly struggled free from the black clouds, shedding silver moonlight over the human world, the starlight dimmed. The teacher pointed at the moon and said: "Why do the stars dim when the moon appears? That's because it gives the protagonist a grand entrance effect, otherwise how would we highlight the protagonist's importance? Or maybe the moon is an adult in the heavens." Chen Hao raised his head, meeting the teacher's gaze, he looked puzzled and asked: "Teacher, if what affected our studies in our student days was the game, then what was yours?" "Back then, uh," the teacher thought, then said: "It was martial arts novels; at the time, the writings of the great martial arts master were all the rage, we all liked them, but later, because our studies declined, the school strictly banned reading martial arts novels, so those martial arts works were essentially banned books."

Chen Hao seemed to understand; he said to the teacher: "Thank you, I get it, we'll do our best to study!" The teacher laughed, then fell into thought, thinking: "It turns out every era has something to blame for declining grades."

Chen Hao returned to his seat and thought: "Some passages from martial arts novels have been incorporated into the textbook, games have also been recognized as a kind of competitive event; what will be the next scapegoat for learning?" The bell rang, Feng Yan said to Chen Hao: "School's out, let's head back; it's also time to start our adventure."