Fang Chang’s eyes lit up. She hugged Chen Xiaotan tightly and asked, full of hope, “You have a way?”

“Mm… You’re hugging me too tight…”

Only then did Fang Chang realize she was pressed right up against Chen Xiaotan. The latter’s perky [withheld under local policy] had been squashed flat against Fang Chang’s own flatness. The pretty short-haired girl’s face was bright red; she was probably having trouble breathing, too.

She quickly let go and looked at Chen Xiaotan obediently, though stars seemed to glitter in her eyes.

Now that she could breathe again, Chen Xiaotan let out a sigh of relief and cautiously patted her chest. There was a hint of a pout in her voice as she said, “You really are a newbie. You’re freakishly strong.”

That only reminded Fang Chang of the elaborate trap Li Zirong had laid for her, and of her wife and children, far away in another world. Her heart sank even further.

“You’ve already got your payment. So will you tell me how?”

Chen Xiaotan pursed her lips, then broke into a mischievous grin. “I have one more condition.”

Fang Chang instinctively touched her lips and said uneasily, “I’m already a parent…”

“I don’t care!” Chen Xiaotan snorted, then stated her condition. “One month’s rent seems a little low to me.”

Fang Chang’s face went pale. “Our school’s about to go on winter break!”

“What’s that got to do with me? You can still rent after break, can’t you?”

“I-I don’t have any money… And I have to go home.”

Chen Xiaotan’s expression turned cold. “Then you still have to pay what you owe! If you have to, go to the Shop and trade your reward points for gold, then sell it. One reward point gets you 10 kg. How could you not afford the rent?”

“For the kids…” Fang Chang nodded firmly. “I accept!”

“The second thing…”

“Didn’t you say there’d only be one?”

“I changed my mind. You can change yours, too!”

“I… Go on!”

“Can you cook?”

“A little… You want me to cook?”

“Not just cook. From now on, you have to do all the housework—mopping, laundry, everything!”

Fang Chang clenched her fists, her knuckles popping like beans in a pan. She took a long breath, then said, “I accept…”

Chen Xiaotan held up three fingers. “The third thing!”

Fang Chang flew into a rage, and a gleaming horn slowly sprouted from her forehead. “You!”

Chen Xiaotan sensed the sacred magic within it and instinctively stepped back, but she still refused to give in. “This is the last thing. Agree, and I’ll tell you how. Refuse, and we’ll go our separate ways.”

Fang Chang withdrew her horn.

“Hmph!” Chen Xiaotan said with all the airs of a victor. “Actually, the third thing is simple, too. I want to go with you and see that world for myself.”

“Go to that world?” Fang Chang focused on the key point. “I can go back?”

“In The Game, as long as you have reward points, you can do whatever you want. If you want to return to a world you’ve already visited, you just need to buy a World Sweep Ticket.”

“A World Sweep Ticket?” Fang Chang was both surprised and delighted. She hurriedly took out the items she’d stored in her inventory. “Do you mean this?”

Chen Xiaotan glanced at the golden scroll in her hand. It was marked as a one-day ticket. She pursed her lips. “That’s only a one-day ticket. It’ll let you return to that world for one day. Will you have enough time?”

“I will!” Fang Chang worked out the dates. She’d only been back for a day, so even if time flowed differently between the worlds, the difference couldn’t be too great.

One day would be enough to travel from Li Zirong’s lab to Lu Nongxi’s hideout and back.

She’d bring her wife and son back, then leave!

Chen Xiaotan said, “Buy me a World Sweep Ticket of the same tier, too. A one-day ticket only costs 100 reward points. Surely you’re not that stingy?”

Fang Chang really was reluctant to spend her reward points. “Can’t you buy your own?”

“A ticket I buy won’t let me enter a world you’ve visited.” Chen Xiaotan gave her a teasing smile. “Besides, this is part of our deal. Are you going to break your word?”

Fang Chang eyed her suspiciously. “Why do you want to go to that world? You don’t have any family or friends there…”

“I want to see the scenery!”

Fang Chang gave her a strange look. “It’s an apocalypse world, crawling with zombies. What’s there to see?”

Chen Xiaotan gave a light cough and stressed, “It’s a condition!”

Fang Chang’s look grew even stranger. She couldn’t help wondering, Is she into me? I haven’t even made my mighty presence known! Besides, I’m a woman now. Men and women are supposed to attract each other, and women are supposed to repel each other…”

Even as suspicion took hold, the so-called payment Chen Xiaotan had mentioned earlier flashed through her mind.

Thinking about it made her feel like she was cheating. She hurriedly put the thought aside and searched the Shop for World Sweep Tickets, only to discover they were no simple item.

The day-tier ticket was the lowest. There were also month- and year-tier tickets, but the higher the tier, the more expensive they got. Some even cost thousands of reward points each.

“Purchase a one-day World Sweep Ticket to the First World.”

A golden ticket appeared in her hand, and 100 reward points were deducted, leaving her with 5,600.

Fang Chang handed Chen Xiaotan a ticket, then asked, “How do we use it?”

“Just let the system activate it,” Chen Xiaotan said, moving closer. “But first, we should form a party, in case we get caught in a time current.”

“Okay.”

[Player 1234 requests to form a party with you and travel to World d23. Do you accept?]

Fang Chang tapped Accept.

The next moment, the scene around them changed. The two held hands, surrounded by a vast, empty void with nowhere to stand. Above them hung a colossal sphere, its surface divided between blue and yellow.

Their vision began to blur until nothing was clear. The whole world sank into a colorless darkness—but it lasted only an instant. Then came a sound like shattering glass, and color flooded back into view.

The stench of rotting corpses stabbed at their noses. The land was devastated, the city reduced to ruins. A bird cried overhead, and a monstrous two-headed bird with a ten-meter wingspan swept across the sky.

The two were standing on the roof of a ruined building. Chen Xiaotan stared, dumbfounded, as the terrifying bird flew past, while Fang Chang released a trace of her aura to drive away the lingering stench in the air.

“This is the first world I ever traveled to. Li Zirong, I’m back!”