Chapter 156: Who the hell messed up this game? Really low-quality (revised)

Before Yang Yixie could react to the scene before him, his phone vibrated repeatedly—all of it Message Bombardment from someone.

【Seeing it with your own eyes, isn't it more stimulating than dry information?】

【The rules are being rewritten, the map is expanding, monsters have respawned, yet some players haven't even gotten Game Qualification—let me see who this unlucky bastard is? Turns out it's my dear partner!】

【How about it? Are you interested in this 'game'? Want to do an Offline Meet? We're trying to get more Game Qualification; if we get it, I'll give you one?】

【Everyone else already has it; if you join too late, the level gap will be huge, okay?】

Yang Yixie set down the strangely textured S+ Playing Card, leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

Blood Bar, Aberrant Species, the playing card from the other end of the screen, the capital's murder case, Game Qualification...

Should he continue pretending not to see, return to his ordinary routine, or push open this door to see what lies beyond?

Yang Yixie suppressed the urge to block that guy and kept typing.

【What do you want?】

【I just want you to play the game with me! Didn't that guy pass my words to you? The two of them teamed up to isolate me; I'm bored alone, but I'm absolutely sincere with you.】

The message from that side popped up shortly after.

【Look, we both have this ability, yet I still chose to invite you in this friendly way—isn't this sincerity enough?】

These words carried a veiled threat, but more so an invitation.

Yang Yixie understood that the other party was demonstrating his ability and "sincerity": he could find him, possibly to his detriment, but he hoped Yang Yixie would voluntarily join this "game".

He fell silent for a moment, then replied:

【So?】

【So,】 Xirensheng's message came right after, 【Online chatting alone is boring? Information transmission still has lag—why not... we make time for an Offline Meet?】

【How about it, dare to come?】

Yang Yixie pushed up his Black-framed Glasses; the lenses reflected the screen's cold light, making his true emotions unreadable.

Should he continue hiding in the seemingly peaceful daily life, or accept the invitation and touch the "game" that officials deliberately concealed?

No need to hesitate.

【Good.】

——————————————

Unlike the quiet of Yang Yixie's apartment building, the air here seemed soaked in noise and indulgence.

The lighting was ambiguous, mainly shifting pink-purple and deep blue, striking the metal-textured walls and polished bar, refracting a psychedelic halo.

The background music was some ethereal electronic tune, its volume just right to muffle most private talk without becoming noisy.

Behind the bar, a tall man in a fitted black waistcoat stood with his back to the hall, slowly swirling the drink in his highball glass.

He had a rare head of silver-white hair, loosely tied at the back.

Ambient pink light washed over him, tinting his silver-white hair a faint pink hue.

Just then, the green-haired youth who had been slumped on the bar sprang up, letting out a shout full of wild joy.

"He agreed! He actually agreed!"

That shout even briefly drowned out the background music, drawing sideways glances from a few nearby booth patrons.

"Bang!"

A sound not too heavy but crisply clear rang out.

It was an antiquated-looking brass pipe that seemed quite heavy, striking the green-haired youth's head precisely and successfully cutting off his noise pollution.

"So noisy."

The white-haired man behind the bar turned, his features deep-set, his pink peach-blossom eyes somewhat dreamy in the light, now disapprovingly glaring at the youth clutching his head in pain.

"What nonsense are you pulling now? If you scare my customers away, you'll be washing cups for a month."

The green-haired youth rubbed the spot that had been hit, not angry but instead grinning as he turned his head, eyes shining amazingly.

"When did you get back? Didn't you say it would take some time to deal with those guys?"

The white-haired man didn't answer his question, merely hanging the cleaned cup back on the rack above, then picking up the pipe and slowly filling it with tobacco.

"He said he could handle it alone, so he let me come back first—what's got you happy as a cat whose tail's been stepped on?"

"It's great news!" Xirensheng instantly perked up, waving his arms and legs.

"My partner agreed to meet offline! Just now! He replied to me!"

"Huh?" The white-haired man paused in lighting his pipe, somewhat surprised, "He agreed? Impossible."

He clenched the pipe between his lips, exhaled a faint white smoke ring, then continued.

"I don't know what that kid's deal is; we've always kept our agreement, not touching his real-life info—how could he suddenly agree to meet offline with you? You must be dreaming, or..."

He realized something, his gaze sharp as he looked at Xirensheng, "Did you use 'unconventional' methods?"

Xirensheng's smile froze for a moment, then became even more radiant, with a hint of shamelessness now that he'd been called out.

"That's my partner—you definitely don't know him as well as I do! I didn't use any special tricks; I just showed him something 'interesting,' sparking a little curiosity about the real-life 'game'."

The man's brows furrowed, his tone sinking.

"Curiosity? I think you're looking for death—hand over the chat log."

Xirensheng seemed a bit guilty, but more so excitedly offering his treasure, quickly handing over his phone—the screen showed his chat interface with Yang Yixie.

The man took the phone, his long fingers swiftly swiping the screen, his pink eyes scanning each line.

With the hand holding the pipe, he struck Xirensheng's green head again with lightning speed, this time with noticeably greater force.

"Bang!"

"Ow——!" Xirensheng winced in pain.

"You call this an 'invitation'? You're not afraid that kid will retaliate against you."

Xirensheng rubbed his head after the second heavy blow, pursed his lips, and muttered quietly.

"This game has already affected reality; partners will find out sooner or later; the earlier they know, the better they can seize the initiative; partners definitely also understand this point; otherwise they wouldn't have agreed so easily~"

"So he can be certain that his partner will definitely join the game, and his partner certainly won't bully him like they do."

"Hmm, I don't even know who created this game; they didn't even invite his gaming buddy, really classless."