042. In the Game
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When Lin Nan returned to the dormitory, it was already 4 PM.
He hadn’t had lunch yet, and the food at the tourist spot was a bit too pricey for his wallet, so he picked up a cup of instant noodles from the convenience store on campus.
Using his key to unlock the dorm door, he peered inside. The place was noticeably cleaner and more organized than before; it looked so tidy that one could mistake it for uninhabited.
Expressionless, Lin Nan strolled inside and plopped down in front of his computer.
While outside, he had felt completely embarrassed and was eager to get back to the dorm, but now that he was here, he realized it was quieter than a cemetery.
Not a single bit lively.
Though he wasn’t exactly an extrovert, Lin Nan, like most people, preferred a bit of a buzz around him. When his roommates were around, there were playful fights, late-night gaming sessions, and ribbing each other about their flaws. Sure, sometimes the teasing would go too far, which could be frustrating, but most of the time, it brought him joy.
Living alone made Lin Nan feel a bit on edge; whether it was night or day, he always imagined that the footsteps he heard in the hallway belonged to a thief. When the lights went out, he’d fixate on shadows, suspecting that there were monsters hiding in the dark. The dorm’s kitten was also a nuisance at night, always clawing at the wardrobe and scratching the floor, which woke Lin Nan up multiple times.
Sitting in his chair, he absentmindedly scrolled through Douyin and stumbled upon a news story about a break-in.
Immediately, he turned into a bundle of nerves and rushed to double-lock the front door to his dorm.
Looking paranoid, he scanned every corner of the room before managing to calm himself down.
The fact was, he had always lacked a sense of security. Growing up with his grandfather after his parents were absent, he had moved to the county town after elementary school and had mostly been living alone ever since. He didn’t know if it was due to watching too many horror movies as a child or what, but even though he knew there weren’t any monsters in the world, he still found himself terrified of the dark.
But now that magic existed, who was to say monsters weren’t also out there?
Just as he was starting to settle in and fire up his computer, the thought returned to unsettle him. Suddenly, footsteps echoed from outside, and he whipped around, staring at the door like a deer in headlights.
The footsteps faded as quickly as they appeared, and only then did Lin Nan manage to ease his tight nerves.
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Lin Nan, having just relaxed, instantly went into a tizzy.
“Lin Nan, open up for a duo queue!” came Dong An’s voice from the other side. “Heard you didn’t go for your part-time job, so I came to play with you!”
“What do you want?” Recognizing the voice, Lin Nan walked over and opened the door.
“Why’s the door locked in broad daylight?” Dong An strolled in, carrying a laptop, and without waiting for permission, plopped down on Chen Yao’s bed to connect to the internet and power.
Lin Nan stood there in a daze, completely baffled by what this guy was up to.
“Chen Yao told me you skipped work at lunch, so he sent me over to keep you company for some gaming.” Dong An stretched lazily, showing clear reluctance. “Are you and Chen Yao, like, a thing now? Feels like he’s taking care of you like a girlfriend would… is that really necessary?”
Chen Yao and Lin Nan had been friends for ages, practically childhood pals. Chen Yao knew all too well about Lin Nan’s insecurity and, after learning about his medical examination last night, wanted to look after him as best as possible—even if only from afar.
Lin Nan didn’t feel the care though. Instead, he thought Chen Yao was just worried he was too idle and wanted to send someone over to annoy him.
“So, what’s on your agenda?” Lin Nan crossed his arms. With someone else around, he lost the paranoia and the “I’m-about-to-get-murdered” mentality. Leaning casually against the bedpost, he asked Dong An, “Are you just going to do whatever Chen Yao says? Come on, he’s just a senior; you can do better!”
“Honestly, I’m bored out of my mind for National Day.”
By the sounds of it, Dong An’s roommates had all vanished too.
Lin Nan felt somewhat relieved. He was alone; Dong An was alone—two boredom buddies making a perfect duo!
Though, a moment later, he wondered if that thought was a little off, but he shrugged it off, returning to his place. “I’ll play jungle; you go mid.”
The duo queue quickly launched, and Lin Nan had initially thought about bringing Chen Yao along, but he seemed busy at the moment.
“You really think you can jungle?”
“NMB! I’ve carried games in solo queue as a jungle!” Since Dong An wasn’t a daily roommate and would often tease him as being ‘feminine’, Lin Nan exaggeratedly tried to channel his former masculine bravado, throwing in a bunch of “me” and “you” profanities, trying to show off his manliness.
He knew that masculinity didn’t really manifest like this, but hey, it was a quick fix!
“Go go and get him! d*mn!”
“Flash in! What’s the worst that can happen? A trade? C’mon, you’re still a man, right?”
Spouting clichés he thought made him sound macho, Lin Nan felt his aura radiating confidence.
But Dong An just shot him a glance. After one gank failure, Lin Nan was pouting like a scolded puppy, making him look like someone just waiting to be bullied.
Lin Nan’s foul language didn’t make Dong An see him as more masculine; if anything, it made him seem like a helpless damsel on a rollercoaster, fighting but ultimately unable to escape.
“What’re you laughing at?!” Lin Nan caught Dong An chuckling and slammed the keyboard, mistaking it for in-game banter. “Didn’t you just flash to k*ll?! A trade means it’s experience gained! Are you even aware?!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dong An nodded repeatedly, “My bad, my bad.”
Seeing him admit defeat for the first time, Lin Nan was practically on cloud nine.
Then, without any chance for a gank, Lin Nan’s champion could only help clean up the aftermath. He started slacking off too.
Though he was still cursing to assert his masculinity, he wanted Dong An to treat him like a normal guy, not a joke.
But not much later, Lin Nan froze during a team fight.
“Did I just act like Lilith?” he suddenly realized something was off, staring blankly as he recalled memories of Lilith and compared them to his own behavior just now.
To his shock, he discovered that his gameplay was astonishingly akin to commanding an army like Lilith.
Not just the words, even the emotions and thoughts in his head were hard to distinguish.
Didn’t want to be seen as a simple, useless girl…
“Holy cr*p! Why are you zoning out during the dragon fight?! We just got wiped!”
Dong An’s voice broke Lin Nan’s thoughts, and he snapped back to the screen, only to see the enemy team’s five champions pushing down their tower, while his champion needed thirty seconds to respawn.
They dominated the early game, but after a single misstep, the tables turned completely, leaving them with no chance of recovery. Game over.
Lin Nan was still dazed, while Dong An was shaking with rage.
