Chapter 393: The Player Ought to Be the Protagonist

He slightly tilted his head, as if sensing something and turned his head back.

Liu Shu couldn't see the person's face; the hood was low, the light dim, and he could only vaguely make out the curve of a jawline.

Liu Shu clenched the cloth bag, hesitated a moment, then stepped forward; as he entered the stairwell, the motion-sensor light switched on, allowing him to see the person's features clearly.

His heart skipped a beat.

After the stairwell's motion-sensor light came on, he finally saw that face clearly.

He was very young — no, more like a youth — and between his brows and eyes one could still see a trace of his childhood.

Back then, Yang Yixie was just a little kid who only knew how to trail after Yang Yichen's heels; whenever Liu Ming occasionally visited the Yang household, that child would timidly call him 'Uncle'.

But now the boy standing before him was, in this world, a genuine terrorist.

Liu Shu had seen his wanted poster, issued by the Church, with a bounty so high it was frightening, and the litany of crimes listed afterward left one speechless.

Yet at this moment, this dangerous individual stood quietly in the dim hallway entrance, his frame slight and weak, shoulders slightly slumped, looking not like a fighter but rather the sort of meek student who'd be bullied at school.

He had to pretend he hadn't recognized him.

Liu Shu slipped past Ying Duo sideways, as if he were just an ordinary passerby.

He was about to go inside when he instinctively glanced back, and his throat suddenly tightened.

Yang Yichen had gone on a business trip, and before leaving he had specially greeted him, saying he might be away for several days.

This dump doesn't even have a telephone; although there's a communicator, it's expensive, but Yang Yichen got it for free because he works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although he had already seen Yang Yixie's wanted poster, Liu Shu never expected Yang Yixie to show up.

That boy, still bearing a high bounty, stood there openly, guarding a door that no one would ever open.

He recalled many years ago, when he and the parents of the Yang brothers started working together, Yang Yichen was already in elementary school.

Back then, they would return together, happen to share the same car, and the kids would wait on a bench outside the residential complex; upon seeing them return, they'd jump up with bright eyes.

Liu Shu had joked back then, 'Your son is really clingy to you.'

But later, those children could never wait for that person to return.

Liu Shu closed his eyes; his footsteps echoed in the stairwell, and the motion-sensor light, having just gone out, flickered back on.

That person was still standing there, hearing the movement, he turned his head to look at him.

"Um..." Liu Shu cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound natural, "Are you looking for Yang Yichen?"

The chin beneath the hood twitched, as if nodding.

"He's on a business trip; he shouldn't be back anytime soon."

The person's voice remained calm: "I know."

Liu Shu froze.

"I checked the airship schedule; he should be able to make it back tonight."

Liu Shu opened his mouth, unsure what to say—how did this kid know everything?

He knew his older brother was away on a trip, knew the flight schedule, so he waited here, waiting for a door that might not open until who-knows-when.

"You..." Liu Shu hesitated, then spoke, "Why don't you come inside and sit for a while?"

The person tilted his head to glance at him; this time Liu Shu saw clearly that the boy differed greatly from his memory.

Although a faint familiar outline remained, the glowing green hair and golden eyes both exuded a strong nonhuman aura.

Liu Shu felt a creepy sensation from that glance, but he steeled himself and continued speaking.

"Little Chen usually helps us out a lot; if you're here to find him, you don't mind waiting at my place—you'll know the moment he returns."

As Liu Shu spoke, the excuse even convinced himself: "Just come in; I don't have much, let me pour you a cup of water—rest on the sofa for a bit."

Ying Duo stared at him for a few seconds, then followed him inside.

As they entered, he accidentally bumped into Liu Shu, who didn't mind, merely telling him to sit casually, no need for formality.

It seemed, really, just an utterly ordinary NPC.

He didn't even have a level.

Ying Duo casually plopped onto the sofa, then went on spacing out.

This body had no stamina value to speak of, so standing or sitting made little difference to him, but people are inherently lazy creatures.

As the saying goes, when you're standing you want to sit; when you're sitting you want to lie down.

Come to think of it, does he also need to rig up some external gear in this world? He can't just find a spot to crouch and hammer away at a keyboard during every fight, can he?

Although Yang Yixie had put his marksmanship training on the schedule, frankly, rather than rely on himself, it would be better to link energy and firearms, then use the system built through rune constructs to perform locked-on shooting.

What Fang Zhiyan taught was indeed somewhat useful; although he only had him practice the most basic energy manipulation, Yang Yixie had already extrapolated many interesting little discoveries on his own.

If the game system gave his abilities as a formula, then when solving problems (combat), he could freely mix and match whatever formulas might be needed.

After developing his own energy usage, it amounted to being able to extend various variations on the formula's basis, even evolving into more concise algorithms.

Take, for example, his 【Teleportation】 skill, which he hasn't had a chance to practice properly after spending too long in the wilderness.

If his former self achieved displacement by turning himself into energy and riding the rune's energy propagation, breaking that process down, each step could serve as a separate skill.

Moreover, this process happened to overlap with a field he was familiar with.

Energy effecting through runes—isn't that just like electricity flowing through wires to power appliances in the real world?

Simply put, a real-world hacker can achieve his goals by infiltrating via the network; in this game world, couldn't he invade rune devices using his own energy?

And the most crucial point: his skill is currently unique, meaning that in this world, perhaps only he can hack into rune devices.

Such an ability not only gives him great help, but also reduces the need for him to step into the spotlight himself.

Rather than being used as a pawn in someone else's game, he prefers to be the one playing the pieces.

If the current wasteland is a chessboard where the Church and the Dome are playing, and there's no room for a third player, then we might as well smash the whole board and start over.

The player's game— the player ought to be the protagonist.