Chapter 32: Wooden Cabin—Time Dilation
Back in the Wooden Cabin, Ji Ning's first act was to open her holoscreen.
The main interface displayed her information, partially updated after the second instance.
Name: Ji Ning
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Measurements: 82, 53, 89
Number: 6
Points: 250
Popularity: 761
Achievements: None currently
Instances Completed: 2
Next Instance Countdown: 11:58:45
Instances Remaining Until New World Entry Ticket: 28
Exchange Identity: Insufficient Points, Not Activated
After scanning the information, Ji Ning saw an unread message. She opened it with subtle anticipation—it was indeed from Xing Ye.
Xing Ye: I've finished my instance. Waiting for your good news.
Ji Ning replied: Brother Xing Ye, I'm out. Let's video call, okay?
While waiting for a reply, Ji Ning opened the friend-adding interface she'd been thinking about to check the clearance situation from her first instance.
In the list for "Lewd Cruise," aside from Xing Ye, four other names were lit. It seemed that out of the final twelve players, six had achieved clearance.
As for "AV Star Factory," only Song Weiyang, Xu Huihui, and Lu Feng had lit names.
She was about to tap on Song Weiyang's name when a friend request from Song Weiyang popped up.
Ji Ning accepted, and before she could greet Song Weiyang, Xing Ye's video call request popped up.
Ji Ning sat on the sofa and answered the video.
On the video interface, Xing Ye lay on his bed in a gray T-shirt, resting his head on his arm, the stretched and taut muscles of his arm forming a firm, handsome line.
His face was still so strikingly handsome, and the familiar sight was reassuring.
Seeing Ji Ning's sweet smile, Xing Ye's thin lips curved upward as he asked, "How was the second world?"
"I got the first-place reward!" Ji Ning was undoubtedly happy.
Since she regarded Xing Ye with the respect and trust reserved for a senior, she gave him a rough but complete account of everything that happened in the AV Star Factory.
Watching Xing Ye's smile gradually fade, Ji Ning's mind—muddled by the joy of reunion—finally cooled down.
"Song Weiyang... that name is on the leaderboard, but I've never met him," Xing Ye said slowly. "But from your description, he's a decent person."
Ji Ning asked cautiously, "Are... are you angry?" She had wanted to ask if he was jealous, but felt that in this sinful game, such an ambiguous and beautiful word shouldn't be mentioned.
Here, everyone was forced to offer up their flesh just to survive. Every instance meant being with different people.
So even though Ji Ning had a natural fondness for Xing Ye, she could only restrain herself from dwelling on such matters; otherwise, she'd become a burden to him.
Ji Ning would not allow herself to hold anyone back.
Xing Ye gently shook his head and said warmly, "No, I'm envious of him."
Ji Ning lowered her eyes and head, pressing her lips together as she secretly smiled.
Then, the two fell silent, gazing at each other for a long moment.
It was a tacit understanding between them, a sign of mutual respect.
In the end, Ji Ning couldn't withstand Xing Ye's gaze and spoke up: "Brother Xing Ye, how much longer until your next instance?"
Xing Ye switched screens to check. "Eleven hours and thirty minutes."
Ji Ning checked her own, found it matched Xing Ye's time, and paused in surprise. "Then how many days were you in your last instance?"
"Three days," Xing Ye replied.
Ji Ning finally understood what had been subtly bothering her.
The time spent in each instance differed, yet the Wooden Cabin's intermission was always twelve hours. Logically, if Ji Ning and Xing Ye ever missed each other's timing once, they'd never be matched together again.
"Time dilation," Xing Ye said, seeing her confusion. He patiently explained, "To keep all players synchronized, the time flow rate inside instances is different. In fact, even the Wooden Cabin has subtle differences. This means that during the rest period, all players are in the Wooden Cabin. When an instance opens, all players are shuffled together."
Ji Ning: !
It was simply amazing, Ji Ning thought to herself. No wonder her number was 6—it seemed there were many, many number 6s in this game world.
As long as numbers didn't overlap, the probability of being matched in an instance with someone you knew was greatly increased.
After video-calling Xing Ye for over an hour, listening to him explain many more rules and the types of other instance worlds, Ji Ning wanted him to rest, so she ended the call.
Closing the video, Ji Ning saw several unread messages and suddenly remembered she hadn't greeted Song Weiyang yet.
Song Weiyang: Got my Baby on my friends list.
Song Weiyang: Kinda miss you.
Song Weiyang: Do you miss me?
Song Weiyang: Where's my Baby?
Song Weiyang: Where are you? Asleep?
Song Weiyang: Remember to message me when you wake up.
Ji Ning: I'm here, sorry sorry.
Song Weiyang replied instantly: Finally replied! I thought you were asleep. What were you doing just now?
Ji Ning honestly confessed: I was on a video call.
Song Weiyang: On video ignoring me? I'm gonna get jealous.
Ji Ning: Xing Ye. He was my partner in the first instance.
Song Weiyang: So it's Brother Xing. For the sake of his skill, I'll drink my vinegar a little quieter.
Ji Ning laughed so hard at Song Weiyang's message that her stomach quivered. He was so warm and direct, his words three parts serious and seven parts joking, which made people feel very relaxed around him.
Song Weiyang sent another message: "Only ten-plus hours left. I won't tease you anymore. Go eat and rest for a bit."
Ji Ning: Okay, you rest well too. Wishing you a smooth next instance.
Song Weiyang: Here's to us being matched together and getting first place again.
With a smile, Ji Ning closed the holoscreen and went to the kitchen fridge. She found a serving of braised pork elbow, heated it up, and ate, satisfying her body's craving for meat after four days of vegetarianism.
After eating and showering, Ji Ning lay in bed, pondering Xing Ye's words and speculating about her third instance, gradually falling asleep.
She slept through the entire remaining rest period.
When she opened her eyes again, Ji Ning found herself in the Werewolf Game field. This time, she had drawn the Villager role.
As a closed-eye player, Ji Ning didn't open her eyes until daybreak on the first day, seeing the lineup she'd been matched with.
Among the eleven players, there was one person Ji Ning had recently interacted with: No. 3, a female player, He Huihui.
After carefully looking over the other ten, she noticed a familiar face from the leaderboards: No. 1, a male player.
She remembered that on the Points Leaderboard, this person was close to Xing Ye, and he was also ranked fourteenth on the Popularity Leaderboard; his name was Jiang Ting.
His deep-set eyes were cool and distant, his nose bridge high and straight, and his jawline especially refined. He wore a pair of thin gold-rimmed glasses, with a crisp shirt and coat, exuding an air of aristocratic elegance.
Judging from appearance alone, Jiang Ting also belonged to the cold and aloof type, but his aloofness carried an extra touch of refined grace.
Being on the leaderboards, Jiang Ting attracted considerable attention from the players.
During the On the Sheriff Ballot speech phase, when it was his turn to speak, his tone was light and devoid of emotion, like the gentle flow of a cold, clear spring.
"I'm the Witch card. Last night I saved No. 6; she's my Silver Water."
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