Chapter 262
Chapter 262 Steady Progress
After returning from the Summer Family to her original residence, life seemed to have returned to normal.
Although society was gradually changing, the feeling wasn’t too obvious yet; the surface calm was still unbroken. Inside and outside the game, aside from dungeons, everything appeared peaceful.
Honestly, Xia Xinyan quite liked this atmosphere.
Being a revered big shot in the Cataclysm era wasn’t exactly a pleasant business.
At least by that stage, making pure friendships became quite a challenge—just the act of making friends itself had turned into a difficult task.
That’s why during her initial period after being reborn, she was so eager to establish a circle centered around her and Ling Mo before the Cataclysm hit.
In her past life, she had endured enough loneliness to last a lifetime, and even though she later built a force belonging to her, those people, including Tang Tang, could only be her subordinates, not friends.
To the point where, upon her rebirth, she quietly lamented that she didn’t have even a single friend who would care for her by the end.
That was a kind of sadness.
Of course, in this life, she wasn’t going to experience that sadness; it seemed her efforts hadn’t been in vain, as the group of people gathered around her was the best proof.
Though… the one leading it was Ling Mo, not her.
But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Another point worth mentioning is that Monica had completely adapted to the world’s environment during this period and showed a keen interest in it—possibly also due to her side hustle as a data broker; after all, money brings motivation.
This made Xia Xinyan feel a bit relieved—since Monica was interested in this world, it likely meant she would stay here for a while, which was definitely good news for Xia Xinyan and the others.
After all, even though Monica had mentioned at first that she had a task to look after them in this world, nobody knew what kind of situation the force behind her was in, nor how much freedom Monica herself had. If she ever got tired of it, she could just give up the task and leave; at that point, it seemed no one could stop her.
So Xia Xinyan kept her expectations for Monica rather low; her being willing to stay for a long time was already the best outcome.
Hmm… it was also worth mentioning that Xia Xinyan learned about these things because after coming back, she had gone to find Monica several times, mainly to ask about Tianji.
As mentioned earlier, Tianji’s points had very little use for them now; the early-stage upgrades were virtually maxed out. Although accumulating extra points couldn’t hurt, there was no need to just let them sit if they could be used for something else.
Then in response to Monica, Xia Xinyan discovered there actually was.
Tianji—also known as the Terminal by people like Monica—could be manifested into a physical form—and the forms were variable, allowing for personal choice. However, the testing machine might only have the default appearance; Monica couldn’t confirm this either since she didn’t have full access to that Terminal.
Unless she and Xia Xinyan had a soul fusion moment, but Xia Xinyan certainly wasn’t going to agree to that.
The appearances of the manifested Terminals varied greatly and primarily depended on the user’s preference. For instance, Monica’s manifested form was a… block of alloy brick, rumored to be her weapon—so powerful that it could squash Godzilla with a single smack. As for why she didn’t use that thing during her first appearance in the God of War Cup… it was simply because she thought if she really used it, it wouldn’t be fun anymore.
Xia Xinyan pretty much understood her reasoning.
As for what Tianji’s manifestation looked like… Xia Xinyan didn’t know yet—because manifesting Tianji required a lot of points, and she didn’t have enough right now. Asking Tianji didn’t yield a precise answer either, so she decided to just let it be for the time being.
Moreover, thinking it through, it seemed like having Tianji manifest really wasn’t that useful—after all, she couldn’t expect Tianji to also take a block of brick and start smashing wherever there was a problem, right? Other than the weapon aspect, it didn’t seem to have much other utility.
Who knows, it might even give her more high-intensity tips for how to provoke Ling Mo.
…Speaking of which, Xia Xinyan had to face the issue at hand.
Even though she had never used any tricks to provoke Ling Mo, it seemed… Ling Mo was almost there on his own.
He even had learned to take the initiative.
“Xinyan, let’s sleep together?”
At night, Xia Xinyan sat on the bed, watching Ling Mo crawl toward it, with an expression that was a mix of confusion.
She noticed Ling Mo had been getting bolder lately.
While the previous incidents in the game could be explained away with an excuse of needing to replenish magic, lately this guy was also starting to act out of line in reality, first gradually probing the limits of her comfort, and now he even wanted to get into her bed.
“No way,” Xia Xinyan firmly rejected him, “I remember saying before, right? I want to wait until we’re married to do those things.”
“When are we getting married, then?” Ling Mo’s smile remained unchanged.
Xia Xinyan: “…”
Goodness.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm down her racing heart, “Now isn’t the time; you need to first have my family’s approval of your identity.”
“But uncle and aunt already agreed to us dating,” Ling Mo pressed a little further as he crawled onto the bed, whispering, “I talked with them over video during the Spring Festival.”
“They agreed? Why didn’t I know?” Xia Xinyan was stunned.
Wasn’t her dad always annoyed with Ling Mo?
“You didn’t know?” Ling Mo paused for a moment, then effortlessly climbed onto the bed and pulled out his phone, “Let me show you the chat history; during the New Year, aunt discussed a lot with me, and I have to thank her for convincing uncle.”
Xia Xinyan scrolled through the chat history, her expression stiffening.
Suddenly, she recalled that when she went home for the New Year, her mom had asked if she was sure about Ling Mo, and she had answered affirmatively.
Then her mother really didn’t let her down and actually got her father to agree during the Spring Festival, explaining everything to Ling Mo.
Which meant she had sold herself out.
Incredible.
“Xinyan,” seeing her in a daze without speaking, Ling Mo’s expression showed a hint of disappointment, “Do you not like being with me?”
“Of course not!” Xia Xinyan retorted instinctively, “When have I ever said I didn’t like you?”
“Then when we first went to my house, you were willing to sleep with me; why can’t it be the same now…” Ling Mo looked as if he was about to be abandoned, “I just want to hold you while sleeping…”
Instantly, Xia Xinyan was covered in goosebumps: “Ugh… you… fine, fine, fine, let’s sleep together, just don’t do that!”
She must have completely raised this guy wrong!
