Chapter 0: The Incident at Flowerless Palace (2)
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In a cold basement,
Fatty’s hands were finally free, allowing him to move around in this cramped little room.
He had no clue why the woman who loathed him so much let him off the hook with some ridiculous excuse he desperately concocted.
But hey, surviving was already a stroke of luck—why dig deeper? That would just be asking for trouble!
“Fatty, how are you holding up?” came a private message from Male Character through the System.
“Nothing’s wrong! Your dude is extraordinarily lucky and living large! But you guys better hurry, Fatty can’t keep this up much longer!”
“Master Sister is in Thousand Bird City. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll meet up with you soon.”
Fatty replied, “Right now, White Peach is just being held captive. After all, she was the Second Palace Master; she’s not in immediate danger.”
“Just be careful.”
“Don’t sweat it! Worst case, I d*e again. Your job is to take care of Master Sister, boo-hoo!”
“…We’ll get there as fast as we can.”
Well, since there’s nothing else to do, he might as well catch the System’s official livestream. It seemed like the battle at Thousand Bird City was getting intense—if he missed it today, he’d have to wait a year!
To prevent his stomach from reminding him that it was empty, watching the livestream became his only option.
One thing led to another, and before he knew it, he had watched the livestream for an entire night.
Days of chatter boiled down to two words: “Oh wow! Epic!”
The Cold Moon Witch and the Extermination of Immortals organization were putting on quite a show in the battle at Thousand Bird City, and Fatty was loving every second of it.
The only drawback was,
Master Sister Luo Ying from the Heavenly Sword Sect made a spectacular entrance, completely wrecking the Great King of the Split Land.
But after that, everything went downhill, as a bizarre mummy girl threw the Heavenly Sword Sect into chaos. Their Sect Leader and Luo Ying were too worried about the safety of their disciples to even make a move.
Though he was a player, he was also part of the Heavenly Sword Sect, and seeing them underperform left him feeling quite frustrated.
But then he remembered—the Cold Moon Witch was his ride-or-d*e! The Heavenly Sword Sect losing to his old flame was practically fate, right?
Fatty had a remarkable talent for self-therapy.
So, the defeat of the Heavenly Sword Sect only knocked him down for a second.
The basement was eerily silent.
After the livestream concluded, Fatty collapsed on the floor, his gut-wrenching hunger felt like a chainsaw, slicing through him and tossing him around uncomfortably.
This was the first time in his life he hadn’t eaten for two straight days.
Even though it was a game, the System’s simulations of hunger felt all too real.
It seemed the only solution to combat this hunger was sleep.
Fatty desperately tried to drift off,
But he was both starving and thirsty—not a chance of successfully hypnotizing himself with that going on.
Eventually, he slumped like a dead fish on the chair, staring up at the pitch-black ceiling of the basement, his mind turned to mush, completely incapable of rational thought.
Time passed—who knew how long.
Maybe an entire day, or perhaps just one day and night; it was easy to lose track of time in this wretched room, what with only the dim oil lamp providing any light.
Finally realizing he could check the System, he discovered he’d been stuck in this cursed basement for a whopping 48 hours.
d*mn it!
A person can only survive three days without water! Fatty had plenty of fat to spare, but he was dying of thirst!
Was this damned Flowerless Palace trying to make him suffer a slow d*ath? Don’t they have any humanity left?
Was his honesty about being the Cold Moon Witch’s boyfriend what got him into this mess? Were they jealous?
Or was he just a pawn for Ji Shen against the Extermination of Immortals, a cautionary tale?
Oh, come on! If that’s the case,
Isn’t he just shooting himself in the foot?
The only difference from that moment when he was sentenced to d*ath was whether he died sooner or later; if he’d known, he would’ve preferred a swift chop from them in the first place.
Now he could be out on the streets of Sky Sword City, eating his fill and living it up instead of starving and suffering here.
What the hell!
Sure, you can annoy anyone, but not a bunch of women!
With his last ounce of strength, Fatty crawled to the door and pounded on it, “Just let me d*e! Someone, please give me a swift k*ll, I’d be grateful to your eight ancestors!”
The sound of banging and Fatty’s desperate cries echoed in the dim hallway but quickly faded away as if a monstrous beast lurking in the darkness had swallowed them whole.
Fatty lay dejectedly at the door, despair creeping in.
Meanwhile, Luo Ying and Lin Nan’s second persona were still far away at the Heavenly Sword Sect. Help from afar wouldn’t cut it. At this rate, he was about to become the first player in this game’s history to d*e of thirst.
Is this what they call going down in history?
Fatty lay on the ground, his last bits of struggle fading, his senses becoming dull, as if he’d slipped into a chaotic world filled with bubbly creatures that kept pressing and exploding around him, pushing him closer to an endless abyss.
Just when it seemed he would completely lose consciousness, an urgent sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway.
That noise was like a shot of adrenaline, jolting Fatty back to semi-awareness as he rasped, “Just k*ll me… k*ll me…”
The hurried footsteps halted before the door.
With a creak, the heavy iron door slowly opened.
In a daze, Fatty struggled to raise his head, hoping they’d hurry up and end his pitiful life.
Unexpectedly, the one in the lead knelt down, placing a warm hand on his face.
Who is it?
Fatty tried hard to discern her features.
Finally, just as he was about to drift off entirely, he managed to catch a glimpse of her face.
“It’s you?”
After uttering that, his consciousness plunged into complete darkness.
How long passed then?
It could have been days or maybe just moments.
In any case, when he finally awoke, he found himself lying on a soft bed, cucumber slices resting on his lips, cool and soothing, easing his thirst a bit.
The aroma of delicious food wafted from outside.
To someone who hadn’t eaten for three or four days, that enticing smell was irresistible.
Fatty leaped out of bed, bolting toward the door as if it was a hundred-meter sprint.
The living room table was overflowing with dishes.
He didn’t even spare a thought for anything else and dove in, gobbling food until his stomach was stuffed to the brim, belching in satisfaction as he finally restored his energy.
It was only then that he had the chance to ponder what had just happened, and why he had gone from a dungeon to this place.
Outside, along with the footsteps, there was a hearty laughter, “You’re awake! You look well!”
……
P.S.: Duan Xiaomei nearly starved to d*ath; dear readers, don’t forget to send snacks!
