First Player

No. 83 “I hope everyone can survive.”

"Good night."

The three of them returned to the villa, and after confirming that Lu Shu and Noel were both fine, Su Mingan wanted to go back to the room to sleep for a while.

"Good night, Su Ming'an." Lu Shu said.

"Good night, when you wake up, the villa will be very lively." Noel smiled and waved to Su Mingan.

"Who are you going to invite over for the New Year?" Su Mingan asked. Noel seems to be very motivated for this New Year celebration. He has been preparing since the end of the ninth world, not knowing what surprises there will be.

"Of course they are all acquaintances." Noel said, "Don't worry, I've made all the arrangements, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the process."

"Okay." Su Mingan smiled and closed the door.

The next moment the door closed, Su Mingan immediately tilted his body and sat on the ground, covering his face and gasping for breath. He stretched out his hand and slapped his dizzy forehead several times, then stood up holding the wall and walked towards the bed.

…

After Su Ming'an fell asleep, the hall suddenly became extremely quiet, with only the sound of the small stove making tea.

Noel glanced at Lu Shu with unclear meaning.

Lu Shu didn't respond, his eyes were slightly lowered, as if he was still thinking about Su Ming'an's words.

Seeing this, Noel was about to turn around and leave, but heard Lu Shu say: "Wait a minute."

Noel turned back unsurprisingly. He knew that he had said some bad things about Lu Shu, and this time he probably wanted to talk about it. There was indeed a conflict between their teams.

The two looked at each other. Su Lin, who was making tea next to him, raised his eyes, then lowered his eyes uninterested.

"If you have any questions, tell me." Noel said.

"——Do you really have authority?" Lu Shu asked, but the question was this.

Noel was slightly startled, and then became speechless.

"No. How many times have I said it." Noel would never affirm this verbally. Once he affirmed it, it would mean being destroyed, even if he really had no authority.

"If you really have authority, people will think that you are safer than Su Ming'an." Lu Shu said: "Currently, there has been such a trend on the forum. After all, you don't need to work hard to dig out the bottom of the copy like Su Ming'an. The secret is that as long as you complete your identity tasks casually, you will be able to pass the level perfectly."

"I am not a perfect passer." Noel slowly turned over his palms. The perfect pass mark on the back of his hand was incomplete: "No threat to the organizer. Not helpful in leading mankind. As long as there is no right to make a wish, it is impossible. Dominate the human world after the war. It is impossible for me to replace Su Mingan's position, don't worry."

"——But don't you regret it?" Lu Shu said suddenly.

"What?"

"It was the copy of the White Sun Floating City in the second world. You lost to Su Ming'an, which prevented you from achieving a perfect clearance. You are smart, powerful, and have authority. If you hadn't proactively provided Su Ming'an with the dawn password, you would not have been exposed. authority." Lu Shu said: "You were questioned by the organizer because you helped Su Ming'an. You could have been on your own without having to assist Su Ming'an, right?"

Lu Shu's words became more and more profound.

Su Lin, who was making tea next to him, raised his eyebrows and glanced at the two of them. Three seconds later, he lowered his gaze again, pretending not to be interested in their conversation.

"...I didn't expect you to become smarter after becoming 'Team Mu'." Noel smiled.

"After living for more than ten years, there will always be some growth." Lu Shu said.

"You are indeed a bit smarter." Noel stretched out his hand, pinching his thumb and index finger slightly, revealing a slight gap. There was no malice in his tone, just a simple tease: "But not much."

Lu Shu listened with no expression on his face.

After time has passed, he will no longer be easily angered. In fact, he knew in his heart that he didn't hate Noel, and Noel actually didn't hate him. They were more like a quarrelsome relationship. This relationship did not stem from a conflict of interest or some kind of contradiction, but just because of their temperament.

The strange smell of tea and milk lingered in the air. Noel raised his head and glanced at the closed door on the second floor. Su Mingan was sleeping inside and could not hear his argument with Lu Shu.

If this thorn in the team's side is not removed, it will definitely cause disaster in the future. Now is the time to talk.

"I have always helped Su Mingan, and even helped him as a support... not because I was willing, you understand?" Noel said.

"...Huh?" Lu Shu was stunned.

"Listen up - if I were truly invincible, I wouldn't befriend anyone," Noel said:

"But Su Ming'an is Su Ming'an, and I believe he has the ability to stand alone. At that time, I had lost the qualification to complete the game perfectly. After judgment, I thought that only by helping him can I maximize my interests, I will continue to help him fight. Auxiliary.”

"I think that helping him can help me achieve my goal to the greatest extent. By helping him, I can maintain my status as the 'second player' stably and safely. By helping him, I can get closer to the most precious thing, the 'right to make a wish' .”

"If it's in my interest to help him, of course I will help him."

"There has never been inexplicable feelings and trust in this world. The source of everything in the world comes from interests. Only when interests exist at the beginning, will more and more feelings and entanglements be mixed later. Anyone who says 'because I like' or 'because I have a good impression' will 'I don't even believe this."

When Noel said this, he smiled and said: "Isn't it because you wanted to make friends with Su Mingan... that you would follow him because he was very powerful and could help you get revenge in the future? You can't just go up to someone when you see him. Dedicate everything to him. You will only follow him if your family background, your three views, and your decisiveness allow you to judge that following him will be helpful to your emotions and interests. If you When I met him in the apocalyptic world, he was not the number one player, but just an ordinary player. Would you go up and say you wanted to follow him?"

"So you helped Su Ming'an for profit?" Lu Shu asked after being silent for a while.

"Not entirely, at first." Noel smiled and his expression became softer: "Later, it was mixed with many other things, such as friendship, such as trust... Aren't you the same? In other words, everyone in our team Individuals become friends this way.”

"It starts with interests and ends with sincerity."

Lu Shu looked at Noel steadily for a few seconds and said, "...I understand."

Su Lin next to him looked up again, then lowered his head pretending not to be interested.

Noel took off his white gloves. He stretched out his hand towards Lu Shu.

"I have been targeting you before because I thought you might have other intentions." Noel said: "But now, everything you have done in the Ninth World makes me feel that you are wholeheartedly for the good of 'Player One'. So I won’t target you again.”

He raised his palm slightly and showed a smile as bright as the sun: "From now on, we can become the most trustworthy team alliance and friends without gaps. Lu Shu, do you agree?"

Lu Shu stared intently at Noel's outstretched hand.

After listening to Noel's analysis of his confession, he realized that Noel was really completely different from normal people - Noel's thinking was extremely rational, highly logical and purposeful, and could even explain things like feelings extremely clearly. clear. It's just that Noel's sunny smile on the surface can cover up these coldnesses, making him quite approachable, making people think that he is an optimistic and cheerful angel.

In fact, if Noel is truly pure, pure, passionate, bright and cheerful, how could he be so adaptable to the dungeon world of the underworld, and has always firmly occupied the position of the second player.

The enthusiastic Little Sun is just a part of him. His rationality pulls his sensibility and at the same time amplifies his sensibility - allowing him to perform extremely emotional actions with an extremely rational mentality, and allowing him to risk his own life for a future. , and even sacrificed himself to protect Su Mingan.

This kind of rationality, when truly expressed, will be more sincere and enthusiastic than most emotional people.

"Okay." Lu Shu stretched out his hand, intertwined with Noel's, and stared into the other's blue eyes: "Let's celebrate the New Year together."

Lu Shu didn't dislike this kind of person. Once a friendship was established, this kind of person would not give up easily due to changing feelings. In relationships, people like Noel are the most steadfast.

Noel smiled with crooked eyebrows.

"That would be great." He smiled: "We will be good friends forever."

…

In the room on the second floor.

Su Mingan sat on the bed and closed the monitoring interface.

He had previously placed two followers, Jasmine and Qingqing, in the villa. For safety reasons, he installed surveillance cameras in the lobby of the villa.

Therefore, he listened to the entire conversation between Lu Shu and Noel.

Leaning on the bed, he stared at the black-and-white ceiling, his vision filled with liquefied light. His mind was buzzing, and he could hear vague whispers.

【Asa. 】

[...Asa. 】

...The sequelae are gradually unfolding. Emotional resonance is not something that can be easily overcome. Even Noah and Sen died because of this, which was a pain that could almost tear their souls apart.

He stood up, walked to a cabinet, and opened the drawer, revealing a square vermilion box inside.

His hand paused on the box, and after three seconds of hesitation, he opened it with a "click".

The box was opened, revealing fifty rose-like solids arranged neatly inside, with a layer of moist light on the surface, like vermilion gems.

Su Mingan held the box, sat on the bedside, and stared at the box for a while.

His eyes wandered from the box to these solid objects, and then quickly drifted away.

Finally, he dragged his gaze back and focused on these fifty rose bloods. They were like the tempting snake fruits in the Garden of Eden. Looking at the rose blood, his breathing became more and more rapid, and his fingers pressed harder and harder on the box.

With a "click", he pressed his palm down and closed the box.

These are the rose blood he brought out in the ninth world. Considering that this was a mental stabilizing potion, he made some himself and brought it out. Rose blood is a very good healing tool when not overdosed, and it is naturally effective for Su Ming'an's situation.

But after hesitating for a long time, he put the box of rose blood back.

He didn't want to try the drug as a last resort and as long as his mental state was not so severe that he was incapacitated. Just at that moment, he remembered what his clone had seen in Eagle Dog...the death of a person who overdosed on rose blood. It was a kind of madness that covered the bathroom with his own blood.

He fell on the bed, endured the whispers in his ears, and fell into a deep sleep.

…

Lu Shu pushed open the room.

This room is mainly decorated with wood, and the walls are hung with calligraphy and ink paintings of the Dragon Kingdom. There are dozens of short coats and Hanfu hanging in the mahogany cabinet, and there is a pot of succulents on the window sill.

This is Lu Shu's room on the third floor of the villa. Su Mingan's villa is large enough for many people to stay here.

Lu Shu took out a leather notebook and opened it carefully, page by page.

The notebook contains many diaries he wrote before.

…

[Su Mingan and Noel went to the amusement park and didn’t call me (simple drawing of curling lips)]

[A photo of them together at the amusement park was posted on the forum. Perhaps only a smart person like Noel can become Su Mingan’s comrade. 】

…

[Seventh World Praia, Su Mingan and Luna have reached a cooperation agreement, it has nothing to do with me. 】

[It would be best if more people help him. 】

…

[Celebrating the New Year with Lin Yin and Su Mingan, soaking in hot springs and watching fireworks, everyone is very happy (happy simple drawing)]

[No one told him that the "big luck" he drew was specially put in by us. In this way, he should be in a good mood. 】

…

[Su Mingan joined the Peak Alliance and called me instead of Noel (smiling simple drawing)]

【Very good. 】

…

[After some calculations, when the Ninth World comes back, it will be just in time to catch up with the seventh day of the Lunar New Year and celebrate the New Year together (simple drawing with tongue sticking out)]

[I hope I will still be alive at that time. 】

…

He turned to a blank page, picked up the pen, and recorded:

【February 7th. Su Mingan said I was very important. Noel said he would be good friends with me forever. 】

【Very happy. 】

[I hope everyone can survive. 】

…

…

[Personal information has been updated]

[Player (Su Mingan), current combat power: 3800+ (personal status), current points: 5: 1/13982943]

[Player (Su Mingan): The ratio of single player to the total progress bar: 10.1

…