248: Back to reality

“Whew!”

Lin Yue opened his eyes. The game pod’s door slowly opened, revealing the familiar white ceiling, which Lin Yue suddenly found somewhat strange.

“Master, it is now 9:24 PM on Monday, March 15, 2060, National Consumer Day!” The sweet, unwavering female voice of the smart home robot, Xiao Ai, rang out.

Lin Yue got up, his steps a little unsteady. It seemed the game pod’s massage function could only alleviate, not completely cure, the drawbacks of prolonged bed rest.

He returned to his bed and picked up his phone to look at it. Thankfully, despite not being charged for nearly a month, it hadn't turned off.

He unlocked his phone and found many unread messages. There was one from Father Lin, dated nearly a month ago, a seemingly endless stream of app push notifications, and also an unread message from Ban Xia.

“Ban Xia: Happy Valentine’s Day! – February 14th, 11:59 AM”

A smile unconsciously appeared on Lin Yue’s lips. He instinctively typed a few words, then thought about it and deleted them. After repeating this three to five times, he ultimately didn’t click send, choosing instead to reply to Father Lin.

“Beep… beep…”

Just as Lin Yue thought Father Lin was playing a game and wouldn’t answer, the call was connected.

“Hello, son!” Father Lin’s figure appeared on the virtual screen.

“Father, I saw you called me. Is something wrong?” Lin Yue asked with a smile.

“Huh? Did I? When? Why don’t I remember?” Father Lin lay on the sofa, looking a bit confused.

Two black lines appeared on Lin Yue’s forehead, then he said, slightly speechless, “It’s nothing. Are you and Mother doing well?”

“Good, eating well, no need to worry about us!” Father Lin got up and took a delightful sip of tea from a cup.

Then the tea appeared on the virtual screen, and Father Lin chuckled, “Son, look, your mother bought this for me. It’s nearly three thousand dragon coins per liang. You really don’t need to worry about us!”

“Where’s Mother?” Lin Yue asked curiously. In the past, Mother would never buy Father Lin such expensive tea. What was wrong with Mother?

“Your mother went to class.” Father Lin said with a look of enjoyment, clearly very satisfied with the tea.

“What time is it? Has she not come home yet?” Lin Yue asked.

“Sigh, I heard the students in her class didn’t do well on the last diagnostic test, so the school changed all evening self-study sessions to classes. She’s been a bit busy recently.” Father Lin seemed excited, then picked up a copy of “A Global History” from the side and pretended to read it, looking like a recluse.

“Alright, alright,” Lin Yue sighed.

Father Lin glanced at it, then tossed the book aside. He looked at the time and suddenly said in a panic, “Oh, never mind that. Your mother is coming home, I need to tidy up the house. We’ll chat when I have time, son!”

“Got it. Take care of yourself.”

“Alright, alright, got it.” Father Lin got up, then changed the subject, “Son, if you need money, tell your mother. Gotta go, gotta go.”

“Okay…”

“Beep…”

Lin Yue reluctantly got out of bed, bent down, and looked at the nutrient solution in the game pod, finding it almost empty. He prepared to order more nutrient solution on the “Starved to Death” food delivery app.

Lin Yue checked the price. Currently, a bottle of nutrient solution had dropped to 100 dragon coins. Indeed, as production increased, the price of nutrient solution would decrease.

Just as Lin Yue was about to place the order, he noticed a small line of text: “This product is 50ml.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Lin Yue couldn’t help but curse. The picture was clearly identical to before, but it was only a quarter of the original size!

Previously, a 200ml bottle cost 200 dragon coins after the game ascension launched, and 200ml could last about two days.

Now, although it only cost 100 dragon coins, it was only 50ml, meaning 200ml would cost 400 dragon coins. The price had actually doubled again!

That meant spending 200 dragon coins a day just doing nothing! This was more pay-to-win than any other game!

Of course, some didn’t buy nutrient solution, but then they could only play for a maximum of eight hours a day. Exceeding that time would lead to extreme fatigue. Lin Yue was considered a big shot among players in the game, so he couldn’t wait.

Lin Yue ordered 100 bottles of nutrient solution, spending a full 10,000 dragon coins, which was equivalent to nearly two months’ worth.

Lin Yue went to the bathroom for a quick shower. When he took off his clothes, he found that he had actually gained a few abdominal muscles.

His original single abdominal muscle had subtly transformed into four. Lin Yue was a bit surprised. Could doing nothing and drinking nutrient solution actually produce abdominal muscles?

Lin Yue smiled, took a quick shower, and by the time he came out, the delivery robot had just arrived.

Lin Yue opened the window and retrieved the 5 liters of nutrient solution from the drone. The previously somewhat clumsy delivery drone immediately became light and agile, buzzing away and disappearing from sight.

Lin Yue walked to the game pod and poured in the nutrient solution. These nutrient solutions would last him 50 days of game time, which translated to a full ten months in the game.

Otherwise, during expeditions, his spirit would be constantly tense, and there would be too little time to log out and rest.

Afterward, Lin Yue completed his most important task of returning to reality. He glanced at the time; only 20 minutes had passed, which was just one shichen in the game. He then lay on the bed and browsed the game forum.

The pinned post was about Genghis Khan.

“Genghis Khan slays Charles the Great, the ‘Father of Europe,’ on the banks of the Rhine River!”

Lin Yue was shocked. Last time, Genghis Khan had defeated the European coalition army. How had Francia fallen this time?!

He clicked in and read about the process of the battle.

“Charles the Great perishes at the Rhine River!

The Imperial Guard of Scala is no match for the Mongol Kheshig. Roland, the legendary general and chief paladin of the European server, dies in battle. Only one out of the Twelve Paladins remains!

The instance dungeon ‘Iron Tower Endures’ is officially declared a failure!

The Carolingian Empire ceases to exist!

Francia, Germania, Italia: National Destiny -100%, Natural Disasters +100%!

Following ‘Genghis Khan’s Wrath,’ three legendary instance dungeons and one epic instance dungeon have been declared failures. Who can stop Genghis Khan?

This emperor who seeks to conquer the world, where will his next target be?

Or rather, what will the next game instance dungeon be?

Voting entry:

‘Oliver Twist’

‘Winter is Coming’

‘Other’”

Lin Yue didn’t vote. He felt a bit emotional; Genghis Khan’s Mongol cavalry truly were like devils in the cold weapon era!

This man, like the Scourge of God, now had half of the West prostrate at his feet, trembling with fear.

He then looked at the comments below the post.

“Demon Lord: It seems only our Great Fusang Empire can compete with Genghis Khan!”

“Dynamic Lightwave biubiu: The Fusangese above, who are living pretty good lives, just shut up. If it weren’t for that evil wind, you would have been gone long ago!

By the way, how’s your village battle going? Is it over yet?”

“Demon Lord: Hmph! The divine wind is invincible! As for our Great Fusang Empire’s war of unification, I have no comment. You can’t hope to meddle!”

Lin Yue lost interest in reading further because the entire comment section was filled with this arrogant Fusangese shouting. He then moved on to the next post.

“Rational Consumption! Don’t blindly hoard nutrient solution, believe that the country will eventually intervene!”

Lin Yue chuckled and scrolled past it, continuing to the next one.

“315 Exposure! Nutrient Solution Fraud, this brand of nutrient solution is just mineral…”

Lin Yue expressionlessly scrolled past it, continuing to the next one.

“Glory Shop!”