Chapter 73: Anomalous Surge (Revised)

What did you do?!

A System Prompt suddenly popped up deducting favorability, causing Yang Yixie's hand to slip and throw onto the steering wheel, directly breaking Ying Duo's AFK State resting doze.

It's just grabbing a bed, why does it also deduct favorability?

In the open-world games Yang Yixie has played, let alone grabbing an NPC's bed, even breaking into a civilian's house and looting their supplies in front of the NPC, or sleeping in the king's luxurious bed in front of the guards, are basic operations.

Usually at most you just get warned or fined a little money; who's this petty?

He used to ring the bell in people's villages every day, disturbing their sweet dreams; the villagers only dared to hum 'hen~' in his presence.

Even though he complained inwardly, the mission still had to be done, and favorability still had to be raised.

Seeing the favorability he had painstakingly raised drop again, Ying Duo, under Yang Yixie's slipping hand, suddenly opened his eyes; his golden pupils gleamed with an inorganic sheen in the dim light, showing no trace of sleepiness.

Ying Duo merely thought for a moment, then closed his eyes again and lay down comfortably.

Playing a game for a while increased favorability by 5 points, while grabbing a bed only deducted 2 points.

All in all, he still came out ahead; at worst, he'll just go outside tomorrow and bring back a better bed.

Meanwhile, on the other bed, Luo Jinyou had no idea what mental struggle Yang Yixie had gone through in those few short seconds.

He had his back to Ying Duo, clumsily spreading out that plank bed.

Normally he was quite skilled at doing this himself, but when it came to dual use, the bedding became especially uncooperative in his hands, always ending up uneven, with the corners stubbornly sticking up.

He somewhat irritably slapped the cotton filling once, the motion tinged with resentment.

His mouth also moved silently, probably cursing that Ying Guang Lu guy's banditry, but he feared making too much noise and disturbing Ying Duo's rest.

With his slow movements, he managed to shape the bedding roughly, and Luo Jinyou also gradually calmed down.

He turned his head and glanced at Ying Duo, who seemed already fast asleep on the opposite bed.

That Ying Guang Lu head, in the dim light, looked like a clump of poisonous fungus emitting a faint eerie glow, appearing unusually uncanny.

Forget it......

Luo Jinyou said to himself in his heart.

Getting angry at this guy is pointless; Shen Zexi had specifically mentioned to him before that when Ying Duo awakened his Aberrant Arts, something went wrong with his brain, so he must never judge Ying Duo by ordinary standards......

Thinking of this, the lingering resentment in his heart mostly dissipated, replaced by a helpless resignation.

There's no helping it; Ying Duo has a brain issue. If he also distanced himself because of that, probably even fewer people would want to get close to Ying Duo.

Luo Jinyou carefully tucked in the last corner of the bed; although it still wasn't perfectly neat, at least it was sleepable.

After finishing all that, he only then tiptoed back to his own bed, carefully pulling his Starry Sky Rabbit Plush from beside Ying Duo's pillow and holding it tightly in his arms.

He could give the bed to Ying Duo, but not the plush.

He walked to the desk and switched off the only lamp still lit in the room.

Darkness instantly enveloped the room.

But, this darkness wasn't total.

Because Ying Duo was in the room.

That Ying Guang Lu short hair, in the darkness bereft of any light source, finally revealed its true 'power'.

In absolute darkness, that eerie green hair emitted a faint ghastly green halo.

This light isn't strong, but it stubbornly pierces the darkness, forming an eerie light source in the pitch-black room, even faintly casting blurred, distorted shadows on the ceiling.

Luo Jinyou lay on the not-so-comfortable new bedding, clutching the rabbit plush, eyes open, unable to avoid gazing at that ghastly green halo on the ceiling and the blurry humanoid silhouette within it.

This light...... is just too uncanny.

He couldn't help but mutter in his heart, Ying Duo is basically......

The Nightglow Mushroom has become a spirit.

Luo Jinyou tried to close his eyes, striving not to pay attention to the room's strange green light.

But that light is so penetrating that through his eyelids he still feels a faint green glow.

Moreover, there's an unfamiliar human scent in the room, making it hard for him to fall asleep.

By his ear is Ying Duo's near-mechanical regular breathing; before his eyes is the faint green light.

Luo Jinyou felt as if he weren't lying in the Academy Dormitory, but deep in a cavern teeming with unknown Aberrant Species.

Maybe it's because he changed to an unfamiliar bed, or maybe it's because the room now has a self-luminescent mushroom spirit.

He felt that he might have a nightmare tonight......

Luo Jinyou tossed and turned for a long, long time until mental fatigue finally overcame his dual physical and mental discomfort, and only then did he clutch the rabbit plush and fall into an uneasy dream.

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In-game time jumped to the next morning.

Ying Duo 'woke up' on schedule; he glanced at the system time, and there was still a while before the first class on the schedule began.

Hmm, he could still squeeze in some time to play a game.

Yang Yixie thought so satisfiedly, refusing to admit that it was because he and Luo Jinyou had played games together too smoothly last night, getting a bit addicted.

Besides that, the NPCs in this game are too intelligent; in reality he struggles to find such a harmonious and hassle-free gaming partner.

Ying Duo's gaze, the moment he rose, locked onto the bed opposite him.

Luo Jinyou remained curled up, still asleep, his hands tightly clutching the Starry Sky Rabbit Plush; his fair face bore an abnormal flush, his brows deeply furrowed, as if he were having a nightmare.

Ying Duo rose without hesitation, walked to the bed that had originally been his, and reached out to push Luo Jinyou's shoulder.

"Get up, play games."

Luo Jinyou blearily opened his eyes, his azure irises filled with drowsiness and bewilderment, instinctively trying to push himself up.

The next second, a strong wave of dizziness hit him, making his vision swim, while his body felt as if plunged into an ice cellar and his throat grew terribly dry.

"... Ying Duo?"

His voice was weak and hoarse, with a just-woken nasal tone.

Luo Jinyou again tries to prop himself up, but a sudden sense of weakness stops him, and he can only weakly lean back onto the pillow.

In the chaotic consciousness a flash of alertness passes, and he looks at Ying Duo standing by the bedside, his tone carrying a hint of panic.

"Help—help me… I have a Detection Device under my pillow…"

Ying Duo follows the direction he points, feels around under the pillow for a while, and indeed finds a portable Mutation Detection Device that looks like a sports wristband on the outside, but its material and screen are made of special alloy, engraved with runes.

"Um… don't want to dismantle."

"I can't endure it; I must not act hastily right now."

After the previous few experiences of having his favor deducted, Ying Duo does things with a bit more discretion.

He knows where it was placed anyway, so he'll dismantle it when the NPC is not around.

Following the instruction, he accurately fastens the Detection Device onto Luo Jinyou's wrist.

The cold metal touch makes Luo Jinyou startle slightly, clearing his mind a bit.

The Detection Device's screen lights up, emitting a hum.

A few seconds of waiting feels especially long in the quiet morning.

The numbers on the screen finally freeze:

【Mutation Value: 23】

Luo Jinyou stares at that bright red number, his pupils suddenly contract, and the last hint of blood color on his already pale face quickly fades.

"How could this be…"

His voice is full of incredulous trembling, as if he has seen something extremely terrifying.

"It was stable before… how did it lose control again…"

Could it be because of yesterday's emotional roller coaster?

Or is this suddenly rising Mutation Value linked to his special constitution, a problem even Professor Luo De'an couldn't untangle?

He can't figure it out, but the most important thing now is to suppress this abnormality first.

Luo Jinyou struggles to get up, goes to his desk to search for the suppressive medication he previously retrieved from the infirmary.

"If I take some medicine, I should be fine…"