“The next quest, huh…”

Shallow Peace sat on the big hotel bed, staring at the torrent of cars far below the glass, and murmured under her breath.

“Just level up first. When you hit max, go farm materials. That’s it.”

That was how she finally replied to Churan.

Churan stared at the message, not sure what to make of it. No matter how he looked at it, Shallow Peace’s so‑called “trial” sounded like something she’d made up on the spot. This whole assessment didn’t seem to have any real meaning.

After replying with a simple “Okay,” he went back to playing.

Shallow Peace kept watching the pitch‑black sky outside the window, the neon lights flickering along the street. In the end she scrolled through her phone, found a contact called “Mo Chen,” and hit call.

“Beep…”

She listened patiently to the dial tone ring again and again. Just when she felt it was about to cut to voicemail, she frowned slightly and was about to hang up.

The call connected.

A very young man’s voice came through. “Hello? Sorry, President An, I’m kinda busy right now. What’s up?”

“Work’s that busy?” Shallow Peace hadn’t been into the office for days. The day she took leave there had been a lot of small, annoying matters, but she’d thought they’d be wrapped up quickly. She hadn’t expected it to drag on this long.

“Yeah, tons of stuff, and I’m doing most of it… huff—”

There was a heavy thud on his end, and Mo Chen spoke between breaths.

“Mm. Thanks for the hard work.” Shallow Peace answered softly.

Her relationship with Mo Chen was pretty solid, and he was her subordinate on top of that. Anything she handed him, he always completed perfectly. It had saved her a lot of trouble.

“The message I sent you at noon, did you see it?”

At noon, after she’d come out of Churan’s room, she’d been texting Mo Chen nonstop—mostly relaying the doctor’s various diagnoses and judgments about Churan.

“Uh, I glanced through it. But neurosis, that kind of thing… it’s hard to say. I’m not the attending physician, and I don’t have much data on the patient. There’s no such thing as an incurable disease in this world. It’s just a matter of whether we’ve dug out the right cure. A disease is like a game—it’s not Invincibility.”

“Your chuunibyou needs treatment too.” Shallow Peace said flatly. Churan’s physical condition had nothing and everything to do with her. One way or another, they were friends now.

She paced around the room. Churan’s situation was a headache from every angle.

“Anyway, anything that won’t harm his body, he can try. As for how far along he is, I haven’t met him in person, so I don’t know. But even if you throw a terminal cancer patient at me, my failure rate won’t be a full one hundred percent.” Mo Chen sounded completely confident.

Shallow Peace arched a brow, voice skeptical. “Oh?”

“At the very least, he can’t die of illness in front of me, right?” Mo Chen burst out laughing.

Shallow Peace’s face slowly darkened. She was being played…

“Uh, obviously, I’m kidding. But those minor treatments are worth a shot.” Sensing she was about to blow, Mo Chen hurried to cool her down. Otherwise he’d be dead meat.

“Like what?”

Bickering with him was one thing, but she was more interested in the treatment options.

“Our great Huaxia’s traditional medicine. Acupuncture, tuina massages, cupping…”

“…”

Shallow Peace’s hand tightened around the phone. Mo Chen was still lost in his own enthusiasm.

He didn’t talk much, so he soon ran out of steam. After he stopped, the other end of the line stayed dead silent for a long time. His scalp started prickling, but he forced himself to keep going. “President An, trust me, this stuff really works.”

“…”

Shallow Peace still didn’t say a word.

At this point, Mo Chen’s heart had gone ice‑cold. His legs were literally shaking as he waited for her death sentence to drop.

“Okay. Got it.” Shallow Peace finally spoke, voice very calm.

Mo Chen froze, wondering if he’d misheard. By all logic, this was the part where Shallow Peace would “kindly” dock his pay or something.

“Mm… then I’ll get back to work?” he probed. With how unpredictable she was, who knew if she’d suddenly flip on him. If he could run, he should run now…

“Go ahead. If he transfers hospitals, you’ll be in charge of his treatment. That work okay?” Shallow Peace asked. Right now all she wanted was to help change Churan’s situation as fast as possible.

“No problem. Since it’s you asking, President An, of course I’ll do it.” Mo Chen laid it on thick. Then something occurred to him, and he added, “Oh, right, President An, that weapon—so damn cool. It’s just the price…”

His voice started to choke. He kept silently comforting himself: Money’s only a problem for a few months. Cool is for life…

“Mm. That patient is the seller. When I hand him to you, don’t you dare do whatever you want with him…” Shallow Peace wasn’t entirely at ease handing Churan over to him, but Mo Chen’s medical skills came with some fortuitous encounters. If even the best doctors couldn’t save Churan, then maybe Mo Chen still had that tiny sliver of a chance.

“Yeah, yeah… huh? The seller?” Mo Chen’s tone changed on a dime.

Shallow Peace’s voice went low and lazy. “If you mess him up, I’ll tell your little sister all about your past.”

“Yes, President An! I’ll take him out—cough—heal him beautifully.” Mo Chen corrected himself fast. That particular threat, he really didn’t want tested.

“Mm. I’m hanging up.”

Shallow Peace ended the call without waiting for a response. She let out a heavy sigh, walked back to the bed, and dropped onto it on her back, frustration knotting in her chest.

Churan’s situation had caught her completely off guard. The only thing that eased her mind was Xin Qian finally daring to take her first step forward and actively talk to someone.

Churan hadn’t let her down either. His mindset really wasn’t bad. With her and Xin Qian comforting him, he’d adjusted fairly quickly. What patients feared most wasn’t that the illness was hard to treat, but that they gave up before the treatment even started. Once the mind collapses, asking for a miracle is nearly impossible.

Many terminal patients, people say they died from the illness. But often they didn’t really die because of the “terminal” itself. Their mentality exploded first, their bodies weakened day after day, and over time, that brewed the final result.

Even if Churan’s mentality had improved, the disease was still a tricky problem. She was afraid Mo Chen wouldn’t be able to handle it, or that this hidden condition would suddenly flare up.

It didn’t happen often, but when it did, the consequences were terrifying…

Just worrying about it wouldn’t help. She still had to figure out how to deal with the situation right in front of her…

After she talked with Chen Haoxuan that day, she’d been on edge, worried he’d go straight to her parents.

Her parents had always been rigid to the point of stubbornness. The root of this whole mess was that their company had taken too steep a dive. It might not last much longer and needed a “mountain” to shelter under—or the consequences would be unimaginable.

From Shallow Peace’s view, the odds of turning the company around were about as good as completely curing Churan. In the end, this whole plan did nothing good for her or her sister. Especially Xin Qian, who’d be the one swallowing all the injustice.

All this time, Shallow Peace had been lying to her parents, who were supposedly “starting businesses abroad,” weaving Xin Qian’s “independence” story step by step. She was confident in how convincing she’d made it. But her parents had terrible tempers. If they came back and found out Xin Qian had been standing still this whole time…

Shallow Peace lifted a hand and covered her face. She didn’t dare picture it any further. The outcome was too brutal. They were supposed to be a family, but this home didn’t hold much warmth.

Families this wealthy were usually fairly well educated, but something like this was happening in her house. Shallow Peace would never allow it.

After tossing and turning for most of the afternoon, she finally sat up again, forcing herself to calmly think through how to deal with her parents, who might return at any time…

…

He Yucheng continued his grind for levels. Mid‑fight, Moonshadow, who hadn’t logged in for a day or two, suddenly came online.

His login point was still the Mercenary Hall in Eternal Night City. He Yucheng happened to be passing by and decided to head in.

Lengjiang suddenly stopped walking behind him. He Yucheng noticed and stopped too, turning back with a puzzled look.

“╮(╯﹏╰）╭ Hubby‑darling, I’m sorry, okay? My sis seems to have something to talk to me about, so I’ve gotta log off first…” Lengjiang squirmed as she spoke.

He Yucheng glanced at the time. They’d been playing all day anyway, and he’d planned to log off soon too. After all, Shallow Peace had said she was keeping an eye on him…

“Mm, go ahead. You rest early too. Night.” He Yucheng chuckled. A lot had happened today, but the day had flown by unexpectedly fast. Mostly thanks to Shallow Peace and Lengjiang. Without them, he’d probably still be stuck in that sickly state.

“(*/ω＼*) Mm‑mm, night night, hubby‑darling~” Lengjiang waved. A column of light flashed, and she logged out.

The street outside was quiet and almost empty, with only a few players passing by now and then on quests. He Yucheng stepped into the Mercenary Hall and saw Moonshadow sitting at a table, staring off into space.

“Hm? Brother Moonshadow, what’s up? You look really out of it.” He Yucheng walked over and sat down beside him.

“Huh? Ah… Brother He.” Moonshadow snapped out of it and hurriedly scooted over to make room for him with a sheepish smile.

“What’s going on? You look totally distracted, and you disappeared for two days. What kept you so busy?”

To He Yucheng, Moonshadow always came off as this honest, friendly type—the kind who actually took his college studies seriously. What could be troubling someone like that? School?

“Ah, just everyone’s favorite drama. A breakup.” Moonshadow smiled, but that smile looked worse than crying.

“Huh? You’re dating in college too?” He Yucheng blinked. Moonshadow looked like the model good guy, not the type to be flirting all over the place.

“Brother He, that’s where you’re wrong. Dating in college is basic gameplay!” Moonshadow laughed, then let out a long sigh. “I’m jealous of how lovey‑dovey you two are.”

He Yucheng knew perfectly well dating in college was standard. But that second half of the sentence was off.

He covered his face. “Brother Moonshadow, you’ve got it wrong. A game is just a game. It doesn’t equal real life.”

Moonshadow fell silent again, staring ahead. Time felt like it froze.

After a moment of quiet between them, Moonshadow spoke. “Brother He, tell me… do you think love at first sight is real?”

He Yucheng had never experienced anything like that. He thought for a moment. “It probably exists. But it’s not very realistic.”

Moonshadow gave a bitter little smile and sighed. “Guess I’m just one‑sided, then. I put in a lot, but I can’t get anything back. Do you think I should keep going?”

He Yucheng had been through emotional drama too. He didn’t want to mislead anyone. He only smiled and said, “If you think you’re a good match, if there’s at least a little bit of feeling there—just a tiny spark—you can try. But if there’s not even a spark between you, my advice? Turn back while you can. Don’t act on impulse and choose wrong. There’s no reset after that.”

Feelings were complicated. You had to weigh a lot of things, especially when you were in a cold war or being pushed to the edges. Those moments called for extra caution. Make the wrong choice and you both get hurt—and those wounds are hard to heal…

He Yucheng was still an outsider. Romance wasn’t something a clueless third party should push too hard on. If Moonshadow wanted to fix it, he’d have to do it himself.

Even if his answer hadn’t helped much, Moonshadow still smiled and said, “Thanks, Brother He.”

He Yucheng just laughed and shook his head. He hadn’t really helped with anything. It’s just—when something like this hits you, having a bro sitting there with you beats being alone.

They chatted about all sorts of things after that. Eventually, when He Yucheng checked the time and saw it was close to nine, he said, “It’s about time. I should get some rest.”

“Eh? This early? Don’t you usually stay on till, like, one or two?”

It was rare to see He Yucheng turn in so early. Moonshadow was honestly surprised.

“Yeah. My body hasn’t been feeling too great lately, so I’ve gotta sleep earlier.” He Yucheng brushed it off with a smile. He couldn’t exactly say Shallow Peace was watching him.

“All right, then I’ll go grind some dungeons on my own. Night, Brother He.”

“Mm. Night…”